New York, January 8, 2026, 11:27 EST — Regular session
- Walmart shares fell about 0.7% after the retailer named Superhuman CEO Shishir Mehrotra to its board.
- Investors are looking ahead to Walmart’s ICR Conference appearance on Jan. 13 and earnings on Feb. 19.
- Retail stocks were mostly higher, leaving Walmart as a laggard in the group.
Walmart Inc shares fell 0.7% to $111.91 by late morning on Thursday after the retailer said it appointed Superhuman CEO Shishir Mehrotra to its board. The stock hit an intraday low of $109.86.
The board move lands as Walmart leans harder on technology spending and pushes its online and store businesses closer together, a costly shift that investors keep scoring quarter by quarter. “Our focus remains on serving customers through a people-led, tech-powered approach,” board chair Greg Penner said. 1
It also puts a spotlight on the company’s near-term investor calendar, with management due at a major consumer conference next week and earnings later in February. Those events tend to steer expectations around sales growth and how aggressively Walmart keeps prices low to protect market share.
A filing showed Mehrotra, 46, was appointed effective Jan. 8 and will serve on the board’s Compensation and Management Development Committee and its Technology and eCommerce Committee. The filing also detailed director pay, including a prorated annual stock award. 2
Walmart’s press release described Mehrotra as a long-time product and engineering executive who previously led Coda and served as YouTube’s chief product officer and chief technology officer. Mehrotra said joining the board as the company “builds for an agentic AI future” was a “rare opportunity.” 3
The market backdrop was mixed. U.S. weekly jobless claims rose to 208,000 in the final week of 2025, data on Thursday showed, while investors also looked ahead to Friday’s U.S. employment report for fresh clues on consumer demand.
Retail stocks broadly held up, with the SPDR S&P Retail ETF up about 1.4%. Target rose about 2.8%, Costco climbed roughly 4.9% and Amazon added about 1.3%.
On the Street, Deutsche Bank resumed coverage of Walmart with a hold rating and a $119 price target, according to a Reuters item carried by moomoo.
But the board headline may fade fast if shoppers pull back or if the price fight across food and household staples forces Walmart to give up margin to hold share. The bigger question for bulls is whether the next round of tech investment shows up as steadier profit, not just better apps.
Next up, Walmart has said Daniel Danker, its EVP of AI Acceleration, Product and Design, will appear at the ICR Conference on Jan. 13. The company’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings are scheduled for Feb. 19, with a live call beginning at 7 a.m. Central time.
