Why Walmart Stock Popped Today
Key Points
Value-seeking shoppers are flocking to Walmart's stores.
The big-box retailer is also gaining more online customers.
- 10 stocks we like better than Walmart ›
Shares of Walmart (NYSE: WMT) rose more than 6% on Thursday after the discount retailer delivered strong fiscal third-quarter profits and boosted its full-year outlook.
Image source: Getty Images.
Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »
Walmart is gaining market share as shoppers search for bargains
Walmart's revenue rose 5.8% year over year to $179.5 billion in the quarter ended Oct. 31. The gains were broad-based.
Comparable sales for the retail giant's U.S. stores, excluding fuel, grew 4.5%, driven by higher traffic and average order sizes.
Meanwhile, Walmart's global e-commerce sales jumped 27%, fueled by pickup and delivery services, as well as the company's steadily expanding third-party marketplace.
Advertising was a particularly powerful growth driver. Walmart's $2.3 billion acquisition of smart TV maker VIZIO and its SmartCast operating system in December helped to drive its ad sales higher by 53%.
All told, Walmart's adjusted operating income increased 8% to $7.2 billion. The big-box retailer's adjusted earnings per share, in turn, improved by 6.9% to $0.62. That bested Wall Street's estimates, which had called for per-share profits of $0.60.
Walmart sees more gains ahead
These encouraging results prompted Walmart to lift its full-year sales and earnings guidance. Management now expects:
- Net sales to rise 4.8% to 5.1%, up from a prior forecast of 3.75% to 4.75%
- Adjusted operating income to increase 4.8% to 5.5%, up from 3.5% to 5.5%
- Adjusted earnings per share of $2.58 to $2.63, up from $2.52 to $2.62
Walmart also announced its intentions to move its stock listing from the New York Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq Stock Market. The change will take place on Dec. 9. Its stock ticker symbol will remain "WMT."
"Moving to Nasdaq aligns with the people-led, tech-powered approach to our long-term strategy," CFO John David Rainey said.
Should you invest $1,000 in Walmart right now?
Before you buy stock in Walmart, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Walmart wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $593,222!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,143,342!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,013% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 188% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of November 17, 2025
Joe Tenebruso has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Walmart. The Motley Fool recommends Intercontinental Exchange and Nasdaq. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Recommended Articles
