NEW YORK, Feb 15, 2026, 11:15 EST — The market is closed.
- Walmart (WMT) ended Friday at $133.89, ticking 0.2% higher.
- Fourth-quarter numbers from the retailer arrive Feb. 19, ahead of the opening bell.
- Key U.S. growth and inflation numbers are due this week, which is shortened by the holiday.
Walmart Inc. wrapped up Friday with its stock at $133.89, a gain of 26 cents, or roughly 0.2%. Shares moved within a range from $131.76 to $134.64 during the session.
Markets close for the weekend, and as trading resumes, attention snaps to a single event: earnings from the country’s largest retailer. For investors, this report often doubles as a readout on consumer behavior, covering everything from groceries and gas to the extras.
This matters at the moment, with investors juggling two big questions: Is the U.S. consumer starting to slow down, and are the latest market rotations just getting started or running out of steam? Walmart finds itself right in the thick of both discussions.
Walmart plans to post its fourth-quarter results at 6 a.m. CST this Thursday, Feb. 19, followed by a conference call an hour later at 7 a.m. CST. Chief Executive John Furner and CFO John David Rainey will lead the discussion.
A filing shows Furner stepped in as president and CEO on Feb. 1, drawing scrutiny to any initial moves on strategy or budget.
Art Hogan at B Riley Wealth likened the current environment to a game of “whack-a-mole,” with investors scrambling to figure out which sectors AI might disrupt next. Over at Nationwide, Mark Hackett noted what he called an “embedded leadership shift,” as capital flows into sectors that have recently lagged. Kevin Gordon from Charles Schwab highlighted tech’s recent slump as a key drag. With that in mind, Walmart’s earnings draw heavy scrutiny for consumer demand cues—especially after December’s U.S. retail sales came in flat. A holiday-shortened week leaves traders focused on GDP and the PCE price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation metric. Reuters
Barclays’ Seth Sigman and Oliver Hu are seeing “core” grocery shoppers moving to value even more quickly as 2026 approaches, with “Walmart remains the biggest gainer” in transaction wallet share over the last three months. The pair also noted ongoing traffic declines at Target, and said Kroger and Albertsons are losing share as more shoppers opt for lower-priced options. Investing.com
Wall Street is looking for Walmart to post earnings of 73 cents per share on revenue near $190 billion, Zacks Equity Research estimates.
Comparable sales get the spotlight for investors—those are sales from locations open a year or more—along with digital growth, operating margins, and any signals about shifts in promotional strategy. In this market, guidance trumps the quarter itself, with even minor missteps drawing swift reaction.
But this setup swings both ways. Shares are still hovering close to recent highs, so any hint of caution on traffic, grocery mix, or margin pressures could hit hard—even if the quarter comes in clean.
Thursday brings Walmart’s numbers before the bell, with its management team speaking at 7 a.m. CST. Then, all eyes shift to the macro slate: GDP comes up, then Friday’s PCE inflation data rounds out the week.
