NEW YORK, July 1, 2026, 15:04 (EDT)
- Walmart dropped around 4.2% in mid-afternoon trading after reports said Cleveland Research pointed to weaker U.S. comparable sales trends.
- The drop wiped out roughly $38 billion in equity value, according to market data, nearly two-thirds of Target’s total market value.
- Walmart sold off while SPY, XLP and XRT all traded flat or up, leaving the retailer out of step with the group.
Walmart Inc. NASDAQ:WMT dropped $4.75, or roughly 4.2%, to $108.51 just before 3 p.m. ET Wednesday. Cleveland Research reportedly flagged slower U.S. comparable sales. That move wiped out around $38 billion in Walmart’s equity value—almost two-thirds of what Target Corp. NYSE:TGT is worth now.
This looks more like a specific trade story. There was no big wave out of retail stocks. Costco Wholesale Corp. NASDAQ:COST slipped under 1%. Amazon.com Inc. NASDAQ:AMZN ticked higher. Kroger Co. NYSE:KR added ground and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (NYSEARCA:XRT) also traded up.
| Instrument | Mid-afternoon price | Intraday move | Market read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walmart Inc. NASDAQ:WMT | $108.51 | -4.2% | Names-specific sales worry |
| Target Corp. NYSE:TGT | $130.76 | +0.1% | No sign of sector spillover |
| Costco Wholesale Corp. NASDAQ:COST | $926.75 | -0.9% | Came off a bit, not Walmart’s hit |
| Amazon.com Inc. NASDAQ:AMZN | $244.09 | +2.4% | Online retail names beat |
| Kroger Co. NYSE:KR | $55.79 | +0.5% | Grocery competitor steady |
| SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust NYSEARCA:SPY | $746.80 | flat | Broader tape stuck |
| Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLP) | $83.23 | +0.2% | Staples outperformed |
| SPDR S&P Retail ETF (NYSEARCA:XRT) | $87.97 | +0.3% | Retail names added |
A report on Nasdaq cites Cleveland Research, which said its channel checks found slower same-store sales and signs Walmart is lowering prices to move extra inventory. That puts some doubt on whether Walmart can hit its quarterly sales target for the period ending in July.
Walmart hit just where investors expected. The company kept store traffic and volumes moving, while expanding higher-margin businesses. In its May report, Walmart said U.S. comp sales rose 4.1% in the first quarter. Global e-commerce jumped 26%. Global ad sales climbed 37%. Membership fee revenue up 17.4%. Walmart guided to Q2 net sales growth of 4%-5% and sees adjusted EPS between 72 and 74 cents.
| Item investors are testing | Last company baseline | Wednesday risk |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. comp sales | Grew 4.1% in Q1, stripping out fuel | Cleveland Research flags a slower patch |
| Q2 sales guide | Company targets 4% to 5% growth in constant currency | July numbers are seen as more important now |
| E-commerce | Up 26% worldwide | Still helps, but cut prices may squeeze margin |
| Advertising | Rose 37% worldwide, Walmart U.S. ads up 36% | Margin driver, but won’t offset weak core sales |
| Membership fees | Gained 17.4% globally | Boosts profit mix, but needs strong traffic |
| Fuel and logistics | Operating profit saw a 250 bps hit from fuel | Consumer and distribution cost pressures aren’t gone |
Walmart CFO John Rainey told analysts on the May earnings call that the retailer’s value proposition was bringing in shoppers as “higher fuel prices are putting pressure on household budgets.” Rainey added the company took on around $175 million in extra fuel costs above what it had planned. He said Walmart would likely see “somewhat higher retail price inflation” if fuel costs stayed elevated. The Motley Fool
This is important since Walmart still trades with high expectations for growth. Shares were at 38 times earnings in recent trading. That’s richer than Target’s 17.3 and Amazon’s 29.2, but under Costco’s 46.6 multiple.
Wall Street was reluctant to drop the Walmart trade. Data from MarketBeat lists 36 analysts with an average target of $138.85 for Walmart, which suggests about 27.8% upside from a $108.66 reference point.
Bank of America’s Christopher Nardone said after the May drop that conditions favored Walmart taking share, with the retailer “playing offense” and rollbacks up 20% from a year ago, TheStreet reported. Morgan Stanley’s Simeon Gutman and Pedro Gil kept their Overweight rating and $140 price target in May. TheStreet
The index itself didn’t fall as much as the total market cap loss, but the drop still showed up. MarketWatch said earlier Wednesday that Walmart and Caterpillar pulled the Dow Jones Industrial Average down the most, with a $1 move in any Dow stock translating to about 5.94 index points. Walmart was down $4.75 mid-afternoon, putting about 28 points of pressure on the index.
This was a standard live U.S. trading session, not a holiday. Nasdaq’s normal hours run 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET, with markets closed for the 2026 Independence Day holiday on Friday, July 3.
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