Walmart reaches a $1 trillion market cap — and quietly joins an elite circle
Walmart was already the biggest retailer in the country, but it has no plans to slow down anytime soon. Recently, the company made history by crossing the $1 trillion market cap threshold only days after new CEO John Furner took over from Doug McMillon. Several reasons are behind this impressive feat, but perhaps the biggest ones were the success of its digital platform and the acquisition of a comparatively wealthier customer base.
Hitting the $1 trillion market cap mark means that the retailer joined a list almost entirely made up of tech companies. This is not a new situation for Walmart, as it was listed on the NASDAQ 100 last month, which is also mainly comprised of tech companies. As per a CNBC report, the retailer’s shares closed nearly 3% higher at $127.71, leaving the company with a $1.02 trillion market cap at the end of Tuesday.
The report also states that for its fiscal 2026 third quarter, Walmart saw a 5.8% increase in revenue thanks to a 27% jump in e-commerce sales and 53% growth for its advertising business. Furthermore, the retailer said that it expected sales growth of 4.8% to 5.1% for its full fiscal year. Even the digital side of things has proven to be a blessing for Walmart so far.
The company has been trying to maximise profits over sales recently by focusing on its third-party marketplace and advertising businesses. Both of these bring in more revenue than the traditional brick-and-mortar stores that everyone is familiar with. While McMillon set the stage for the retailer to see such success, new CEO Furner’s role in this cannot be overstated. Acquiring a new customer base has also driven sales of late, and the new CEO had a big hand to play behind that.
Before he took over the whole operation, Furner was the CEO of Walmart’s US business. He was the one who oversaw efforts like curbside pickup and better private-label brands. These helped the retailer tap into customers who are wealthier than its usual base, and that was also one of the big reasons why it has been able to breach the $1 trillion market cap mark.
Last year, Walmart said that it was testing dark stores that would store items that are frequently ordered so that they could get them to customers as soon as possible. This was done keeping the wealthier customers in mind. "Certainly, with a more affluent customer base that's coming to Walmart now, there's an opportunity to serve [them] in maybe more of a dark store format, where you don't have customers going into stores, but we can serve them through eCommerce," CFO John David Rainey had said.
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