New York, Jan 11, 2026, 10:20 EST — Market closed
Walmart Inc. (WMT) will join the Nasdaq-100 starting Jan. 20, taking the spot AstraZeneca is leaving, Nasdaq announced. The retail giant revealed in November that it would shift its listing from the New York Stock Exchange to Nasdaq. On Friday, shares closed up 1.3% at $114.53.
Walmart’s upcoming addition to the index is catching the eye of passive funds and derivatives desks. These players tend to boost trading volume as they adjust their holdings around inclusion dates.
Markets are closed Sunday, leaving the near-term question: Will Monday’s reopen be driven by mechanical index flows or fresh bets on Walmart’s push into faster delivery and AI-driven shopping?
Nasdaq announced the change will take effect before trading opens on Tuesday, Jan. 20. U.S. markets will be closed Monday, Jan. 19, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The Nasdaq-100 includes 100 of the largest non-financial companies listed on Nasdaq.
On Sunday, Walmart announced it will integrate its shopping platform into Google’s Gemini app, allowing users to search for products, assemble carts, and finalize purchases directly through the chat. John Furner, Walmart U.S. chief and the company’s incoming CEO, stated, “We aren’t just watching the shift, we are driving it.” Walmart News
Walmart is one of the first big retailers to adopt Google’s “Universal Commerce Protocol,” designed to let AI agents manage checkout, Axios reported. “We are collapsing the distance between ‘I want it’ and ‘I have it,’” said David Guggina, Walmart U.S. chief e-commerce officer, in an interview with Axios. Axios
Walmart is expanding its drone delivery partnership with Alphabet-owned Wing to 150 additional U.S. stores, Axios reported. New service rollouts are planned for cities like Los Angeles, Miami, St. Louis, and Cincinnati. “Drone delivery plays an important role in our ability to deliver what customers want, exactly when they want it,” Walmart senior vice president Greg Cathey said in a statement. According to the report, Wing’s drone deliveries remain free for now, with Houston slated to start service on Jan. 15. Axios
Wing’s drones have a payload capacity of around 2.5 to 5 pounds and can cover roughly 12 miles on a round trip, according to The Verge. The company aims to build out a network exceeding 270 drone-delivery locations by 2027.
Walmart surged Friday amid a Wall Street rally sparked by a weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs report that kept hopes for interest-rate cuts alive. December’s nonfarm payrolls increased by just 50,000, while the unemployment rate slipped to 4.4%. Traders are now betting on roughly 54 basis points of rate easing in 2026, Reuters reported.
Index moves often play out as one-off trades: flows can come early and dry up once the switch flips. The AI checkout rollout and drone delivery strategy also face execution risks. Any impact on delivery costs or problems with customer data would directly hit margins.
Investors have a fresh milestone Tuesday as Daniel Danker, Walmart’s EVP of AI Acceleration, Product and Design, takes part in a fireside chat at the ICR Conference, the company announced.
Walmart is set to release its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings on Feb. 19, with materials dropping around 6 a.m. CT and the earnings call kicking off at 7 a.m. CT. Before that, traders will focus on Monday’s Nasdaq-100 reopening, gearing up for the Jan. 20 inclusion.
