Walmart stock wrapped up the first trading day of December on a strong note, closing near a fresh 52‑week high and holding its gains in early after‑hours trading, as investors bet on robust holiday demand, an AI‑driven e‑commerce push, and the company’s upcoming move from the NYSE to the Nasdaq. [1]
Walmart Stock Today: WMT After the Bell on December 1, 2025
As of the close on Monday, December 1, 2025, Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) finished the regular session around $111.67, up just over 1% on the day and not far from a new 52‑week high above $111. [2]
Early after‑hours data from StockAnalysis shows the stock easing slightly to about $111.41 (‑0.2%) shortly after the bell, suggesting mild profit‑taking rather than any shift in the underlying narrative. [3]
For context, Walmart shares have rallied roughly 19% year‑to‑date, with a gain of more than 6% in just the last week, according to Simply Wall St’s performance review. [4] That’s a big move for a defensive retail giant with a market value hovering near $880 billion. [5]
The advance came on a day when the broader U.S. equity market actually finished lower as rising yields weighed on risk assets and crypto‑linked names tumbled, according to Reuters’ end‑of‑day wrap. [6] In other words, Walmart didn’t just float with the tide today; it out‑swam it.
Holiday Shopping Spike: Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Walmart’s Foot Traffic
Today’s move in WMT is tightly connected to early evidence that holiday 2025 is off to a strong start — and that Walmart is squarely in the winners’ column.
- A Zacks/Finviz “Company News for Dec. 1, 2025” update highlighted Walmart as one of the day’s notable movers, saying shares rose about 1.3% as strong Black Friday shopping boosted sales expectations. [7]
- A Seeking Alpha note this morning pointed out that Walmart and Target drew strong Black Friday traffic even after weeks of early discounting, underscoring the strength of in‑store demand. [8]
On the online side, Adobe Analytics data reported by Reuters show U.S. shoppers spent a record $11.8 billion online on Black Friday, with the overall four‑day weekend reaching $23.6 billion, up about 9% year over year. [9] Cyber Monday is expected to top even that, with projected U.S. online spending of $14.2 billion, a 6.3% increase from last year. [10]
Crucially for Walmart:
- Adobe’s and industry analysts’ early reads suggest wealthier consumers are spending freely, while lower‑income shoppers are hunting for value at chains like Walmart and Target. [11]
- Foot‑traffic analytics and marketing coverage from outlets like DesignRush describe Walmart as a holiday “winner”, noting that retailers such as Walmart, Target and Best Buy used AI tools, exclusive giveaways and in‑store perks to pack stores, rather than relying on generic 25–30%‑off signage. [12]
Walmart itself has been seeding this momentum for weeks. Corporate announcements detailed a month‑long Black Friday and Cyber Monday program, with events starting November 14, thousands of gifts under $20, and discounts of up to 60% on select brands, plus a second wave of deals running November 25–30 and fresh cyber offers dropping December 1. [13]
Layer all that together and today’s post‑bell picture is straightforward: traffic is strong, online demand is robust, and the narrative is “Walmart as holiday safe haven” for budget‑conscious households.
Q3 Earnings and AI Push: Why Wall Street Turned Bullish on WMT
Walmart’s December surge didn’t appear from nowhere. It sits on top of a better‑than‑expected quarter and a clear story about AI, e‑commerce and market share gains.
In mid‑November, Walmart’s Q3 FY2026 report surprised to the upside:
- U.S. comparable sales rose 4.5%, ahead of 3.8% consensus estimates.
- Revenue climbed 5.8% to about $179.5 billion for the quarter.
- Online sales jumped roughly 28%, helped by delivery and pickup volume. [14]
Those numbers allowed Walmart to raise guidance again:
- The company now expects net sales growth of 4.8–5.1% and adjusted EPS of $2.58–$2.63 for the year, up from earlier forecasts. [15]
At the same time, Walmart announced that it will switch its listing from the NYSE to the Nasdaq on December 9, 2025, while keeping the ticker WMT, a move confirmed by Nasdaq technical notices. [16] That shift has been framed as symbolic of Walmart’s reinvention as a tech‑driven growth company, not just a traditional brick‑and‑mortar retailer.
A recent Financial Times profile underlined that theme, noting that Walmart has doubled annual capital spending to around $20 billion, built out omnichannel logistics using its 4,600 U.S. stores as fulfillment hubs, leaned heavily into automation and AI, and now stands as a genuine rival to Amazon in U.S. online retail share. [17]
Holiday coverage from Reuters adds more color to the AI angle: retailers including Walmart are rolling out tools like “Sparky”, an AI shopping assistant, to personalize deals and guide shoppers online, with Adobe forecasting a 670% surge in AI‑driven traffic to retail websites versus 2024. [18]
Put bluntly: Walmart is selling the story of being both the nation’s value retailer and a scaled AI‑enabled logistics platform, and investors are buying that story — at least for now.
What Wall Street’s Walmart Stock Forecasts Say Tonight
Analyst sentiment on WMT is overwhelmingly positive:
- StockAnalysis data show a consensus “Strong Buy” rating from around 30 analysts, with an average 12‑month price target near $118 and a range from roughly $91 to $130. That implies about 6% upside from current levels. [19]
- MarketBeat’s latest summary of Wall Street coverage reports something like 31 Buy ratings and just one Hold, with an average target clustered around $118–$119 and a “Moderate/Strong Buy” consensus label. [20]
On the institutional side, recent 13F filings and write‑ups paint a nuanced picture:
- Solidarity Wealth LLC increased its Walmart stake by 9.4% in Q2 to about 38,000 shares, citing the stock’s strong execution and long‑term positioning; MarketBeat also uses this filing to highlight the bullish analyst consensus and raised FY2026 EPS guidance. [21]
- Large investors like Fisher Asset Management and OMERS Administration Corp. modestly trimmed their Walmart positions (around 0.6% in Fisher’s case), which looks more like portfolio rebalancing than an outright bearish call given the size of the cuts. [22]
Options markets are not screaming fear either. Data from MarketChameleon suggest implied volatility around 19% with an IV rank below 10, a level consistent with investors viewing Walmart as a relatively low‑risk mega‑cap rather than a high‑octane trading vehicle. [23]
Bottom line from the Street tonight: analysts see modest upside from here, not a moonshot, but they largely agree that Walmart remains one of the strongest, most durable stories in consumer staples and omnichannel retail.
Valuation: Walmart Is Being Priced Like a Growth Stock
Here’s where things get spicy for valuation nerds.
Across multiple data providers, WMT is trading at a premium to its own history and to many retail peers:
- StockAnalysis and other sources put Walmart’s trailing P/E ratio around the high‑30s to low‑40s, with a forward P/E near 39–40x and a price‑to‑sales ratio near 1.26x. [24]
- FinanceCharts estimates a P/E of about 38.6x at recent prices, versus a 12‑month average near 39x, while Macrotrends pegs the November 30 P/E around 43x. [25]
- GuruFocus and Finbox similarly land in the high‑30s to low‑40s for trailing and forward multiples, noting that Walmart’s current P/E is well above its 3‑, 5‑ and 10‑year averages (roughly 32–35x historically). [26]
In plain English: the market is treating Walmart like a growth stock, not a sleepy defensive grocer.
Some valuation‑focused research goes further:
- ValueInvesting.io’s Peter Lynch–style fair‑value model estimates Walmart’s “fair value” at about $20 per share, implying more than 80% downside from the $110–$112 area. [27] That’s an extreme view driven by modest long‑term earnings growth assumptions and a strict value framework.
- Simply Wall St recently gave Walmart a valuation score of 1 out of 6, arguing that after an 18.9% YTD surge, the stock looks “priced for perfection” relative to its earnings and cash‑flow profile. [28]
None of this means the stock must fall — premium valuations can persist for years when a company keeps taking share and growing cash flows. It does mean, though, that today’s buyers are paying up for resilience, scale and AI‑enabled growth, not getting them at a bargain.
Fundamental Backdrop: Strength with Some Cracks
Walmart’s core fundamentals continue to look solid, but not bulletproof.
From recent filings and coverage:
- The company sits on a market cap near $880 billion, with a debt‑to‑equity ratio around 0.4, current ratio below 0.8 and quick ratio near 0.23, reflecting a typical high‑turnover retailer balance sheet rather than a cash‑hoarding tech giant. [29]
- Management has flagged ongoing pressure on lower‑ and middle‑income shoppers, pointing to inflation and a weaker job market, even as higher‑income households increasingly use Walmart for delivery and general merchandise. [30]
- Advertising and membership remain bright spots: one recent earnings recap noted a 53% jump in global advertising revenue and a roughly 17% increase in membership‑related income, including Walmart+. [31]
Cramer and other commentators have also been hammering a simple theme: Walmart keeps a lid on prices, using its scale to absorb cost pressures better than smaller rivals. [32] That “inflation shock absorber” role is part of why investors are willing to accept a premium multiple.
Still, the combination of rising wages, steep capital spending on automation and AI, and a price‑sensitive customer base means Walmart’s operating leverage isn’t infinite. If sales growth slows while that elevated P/E remains, the stock suddenly has very little room for disappointment — something the valuation bears keep stressing.
Key Catalysts Ahead for Walmart Stock
Looking beyond tonight’s after‑bell snapshot, several upcoming milestones and themes could move WMT over the next few weeks and months:
- Nasdaq Listing on December 9
Walmart’s planned transfer from the NYSE to the Nasdaq Global Select Market could spark incremental flows from index funds and ETFs that track Nasdaq benchmarks, and it reinforces the “tech‑adjacent growth stock” narrative that has attracted a new cohort of investors. [33] - Holiday Sales Data and Guidance Tone
As more detailed Black Friday / Cyber Monday data trickle out and management later updates investors, the market will be watching for: - Next Earnings and 2026 Outlook
Analyst pages currently indicate Walmart is expected to report its next set of results and 2026 guidance in February 2026, with consensus FY earnings around $2.55 per share, just below the company’s raised FY2026 outlook range of $2.58–$2.63. [36]
Any gap between that guidance and actual trends in early 2026 will be critical in justifying — or challenging — today’s premium. - AI and Automation Payoff
Investors will also watch for concrete signs that AI tools (like Sparky) and automation in distribution centers are boosting margins, not just headlines, particularly as capital spending remains elevated. [37]
After the Bell Takeaway on Walmart Stock
Putting it all together:
- Price action: WMT closed near record highs around $111–112, up just over 1% on the day, with only a small drift lower in early after‑hours trading. [38]
- Near‑term driver: Strong early holiday data, especially Black Friday and projected Cyber Monday spending, plus positive coverage of Walmart’s foot traffic and AI‑enhanced promotions. [39]
- Medium‑term story: A retailer that just beat expectations, raised guidance, and is moving to Nasdaq while positioning itself as a tech‑powered, AI‑enabled logistics and retail platform. [40]
- Valuation reality check: A stock with a high‑30s to low‑40s P/E, a premium versus history, and some valuation models arguing it’s deeply overvalued, even as Wall Street’s analyst crowd broadly rates it a buy with mid‑single‑digit upside. [41]
From an investor’s standpoint, Walmart tonight is not a classic “cheap defensive” anymore. It’s a mega‑cap that the market now treats as a growth‑plus‑stability compound, priced on the assumption that it will keep taking share, monetizing data and AI, and turning holiday momentum into durable earnings growth.
Whether that premium holds will depend less on what happened today after the bell and more on what Walmart can deliver through the rest of the holiday season and into 2026. In a market obsessed with scale, data and AI, the world’s largest retailer is acting — and being valued — like it intends to stay in the front row.
References
1. stockanalysis.com, 2. stockanalysis.com, 3. stockanalysis.com, 4. simplywall.st, 5. www.marketbeat.com, 6. www.reuters.com, 7. finviz.com, 8. seekingalpha.com, 9. www.reuters.com, 10. www.reuters.com, 11. www.reuters.com, 12. news.designrush.com, 13. corporate.walmart.com, 14. www.reuters.com, 15. www.reuters.com, 16. www.reuters.com, 17. www.ft.com, 18. www.reuters.com, 19. stockanalysis.com, 20. www.marketbeat.com, 21. www.marketbeat.com, 22. www.marketbeat.com, 23. optioncharts.io, 24. stockanalysis.com, 25. www.financecharts.com, 26. www.gurufocus.com, 27. valueinvesting.io, 28. simplywall.st, 29. www.marketbeat.com, 30. www.reuters.com, 31. www.alphaspread.com, 32. finviz.com, 33. www.reuters.com, 34. www.reuters.com, 35. www.reuters.com, 36. www.marketwatch.com, 37. www.ft.com, 38. stockanalysis.com, 39. www.reuters.com, 40. www.reuters.com, 41. stockanalysis.com
