New York, Jan 23, 2026, 19:14 EST — After-hours
Walmart Inc shares held steady in late after-hours trading Friday, last at $117.73, after dipping 7 cents during the regular session. The stock remained largely unchanged as investors digested new disclosures related to the retailer’s India operations and recent insider trading filings.
Timing is key as traders approach the new week with few catalysts and a major corporate milestone looming. Any sign that assigns value to Walmart’s non-core assets—or suggests management activity near current prices—could shift the narrative, even if the stock itself stays flat.
Updated IPO filings for India’s PhonePe reveal Walmart, which holds roughly 72% of the payments company, aims to reduce its stake by about 12%, offloading nearly 46 million shares. Tiger Global and Microsoft also plan to sell their holdings. The deal consists entirely of existing shares; PhonePe won’t issue fresh stock. The listing is targeting mid-2026, the documents showed.
PhonePe leads India’s real-time bank-to-bank payments network, UPI, handling about 9.81 billion transactions worth nearly 13.6 trillion rupees in December, data from the National Payments Corporation of India shows, as reported by TechCrunch. This market dominance is significant for Walmart, since PhonePe is one of the few major assets from the Flipkart deal that can be publicly valued through trading.
Walmart President and CEO C. Douglas McMillon sold 19,416 shares on Jan. 22, according to a U.S. securities filing. The shares went for an average price of $119.1736 each, with individual trades ranging between $119.05 and $119.263. The Form 4 filing stated the sale was carried out under a Rule 10b5-1 plan, which permits executives to sell shares according to a pre-set schedule.
Traders usually shrug off 10b5-1 sales once the plan is laid out, yet these transactions still pop up on the screens. On a slow Friday evening, that alone can grab headlines—even if the broader market doesn’t react.
Walmart is ramping up its use of automation and forecasting tech, a move analysts link closely to shielding margins. “By utilizing advanced forecasting models and our simulation platform, we can anticipate shifts in demand and dynamically reroute essential supplies,” Indira Uppuluri, senior vice president of supply chain technology at Walmart, told Retail Brew, as reported by Fortune. Fortune
The downside remains clear. PhonePe is still unprofitable as it expands beyond payments, and India’s fintech IPOs often face tough investor reactions. Plus, the fact that this offer raises no new capital could turn buyers off. On a separate note, a federal jury in Maryland ruled Walmart negligent in the 2019 suicide of an employee who bought a shotgun at one of its stores, the Washington Post reported—highlighting how legal risks can emerge unexpectedly.
Walmart’s upcoming FY2026 Q4 earnings report looms as the next major catalyst. The company plans to release results on Feb. 19, with materials hitting at 6 a.m. Central and a conference call following an hour later at 7 a.m. Central, per Walmart’s events page.
Monday’s session will likely pivot on whether investors see the PhonePe sell-down as a value unlock, a mere distraction, or just noise — and if broader risk appetite allows retail stocks to gain ground ahead of earnings.
