New York, Jan 12, 2026, 12:03 EST — Regular session
Walmart shares jumped 3.4% to $118.47 in midday trading on Monday after the retailer outlined a new shopping tie-up with Google’s Gemini chatbot and traders positioned for its Nasdaq-100 debut.
The announcements land at a touchy moment for retail stocks, when investors are trying to figure out whether price-conscious shoppers keep trading down or start spending again. Walmart’s pitch is simple: make buying faster, cheaper, and harder to mess up.
They also put Walmart back in a tech race it didn’t start, but can’t ignore. Getting discovered inside an AI chat window could matter as much as getting a top slot in a web search, and it shifts who controls the checkout.
Google is pushing what it calls “agent-led” shopping — AI that can help find and buy items — with a Universal Commerce Protocol meant to let chatbots talk to retailers’ systems. Google rolled it out with partners including Walmart, Shopify, Target, Wayfair and Etsy, it said at the National Retail Federation show. The Verge
Walmart said the Gemini experience will surface Walmart and Sam’s Club products when relevant and let users link accounts so it can draw on past purchases and items already sitting in carts. “We aren’t just watching the shift, we are driving it,” incoming CEO John Furner said. Walmart News Leadership
On delivery, Alphabet-owned Wing said it will add drone service to another 150 Walmart stores over the next year, targeting more than 40 million people and a network of over 270 drone-enabled sites by 2027. “The strong adoption we’ve seen confirms that this is the future of convenience,” Walmart digital fulfillment executive Greg Cathey said. Wing
Nasdaq said Walmart will replace AstraZeneca in the Nasdaq-100 before the market opens on Tuesday, Jan. 20, with U.S. markets shut the prior day for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The Nasdaq-100 tracks 100 of the largest non-financial companies listed on the exchange.
Walmart moved its primary listing from the New York Stock Exchange to Nasdaq in December, a high-profile win for the tech-heavy venue in its battle with the NYSE, Reuters reported.
The stock’s jump came against a flat tape. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF was up about 0.1%, while the Invesco QQQ trust was little changed and the Dow-linked DIA slipped.
Alphabet shares rose about 0.4% in late morning trade, while Amazon was up about 0.2%, Target added roughly 0.5% and Costco gained about 1.3%.
But these projects can get messy in real life. Drone delivery still runs into weather and regulatory limits, and AI shopping could stir privacy questions — or simply fail to change habits if shoppers stick to old routines.
The next hard catalyst is Walmart’s fiscal fourth-quarter report on Feb. 19, when it is expected to update its outlook and spell out timing for new digital rollouts; the company plans to post earnings materials around 6 a.m. Central time and hold a call an hour later.
