Top 2 Retail Growth Stocks to Buy After Amazon's Latest Sell-Off
Key Points
Walmart and Costco are both reporting high e-commerce growth.
Walmart has more than 5,000 U.S. locations that can get deliveries to customers quickly.
Costco is demonstrating high renewal rates and membership growth.
- 10 stocks we like better than Walmart ›
Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue »
The market continues to punish Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) stock, with another drop after it released its latest earnings results.
Today, the market seems to value Amazon more for its artificial intelligence (AI) development than advances in retail e-commerce, but e-commerce is still its largest business. Although the company has no real competition in the space right now, accounting for nearly 40% of U.S. e-commerce, many other retailers are building thriving e-commerce segments to complement their retail businesses.
If you're looking for top choices, I recommend Walmart (NASDAQ: WMT) and Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST).
Image source: Walmart.
1. Walmart
Walmart has fallen to second-largest retailer in the world behind Amazon as of the end of 2025, but the market continues to prize Walmart's consistent growth and emerging digital business. It has the largest store footprint in the U.S., with more than 5,000 stores, and it keeps finding new ways to boost its business.
E-commerce has been a major growth driver over the past few quarters. E-commerce sales increased 24% year over year in the 2026 fiscal fourth quarter (ended Jan. 27), with a 27% increase in U.S. e-commerce.
It has its own Prime-like membership program called Walmart+, which has been growing quickly, and membership income increased 15% year over year in the fourth quarter. Members are enjoying the quick delivery, and Walmart has an advantage in fast delivery because of its huge store base. Fast deliveries increased 60% year over year, demonstrating the opportunity here.
Walmart is a dependable Dividend King. And it's both resilient and innovative, making it a top long-term play.
2. Costco
Costco stock is finally back in the market's good graces after reporting another stellar earnings report for the 2026 fiscal second quarter (ended Feb. 15). Sales were up 9.1% year over year, and comparable sales rose 7.4%. Whatever reservations the market had about Costco's ability to keep growing despite inflation seem to have vanished.
E-commerce has been a major growth driver for Costco, too. Like Walmart, Costco is leveraging its distinctive edge to boost what it calls digitally enabled sales, which encompasses its robust order pickup business in addition to home deliveries.
Digitally enabled sales increased nearly 23% year over year in the quarter. Total app visits were up 63%, while site traffic rose 35%, and average order value increased 15%. That bodes well for the company's future in this space.
As usual, membership renewal rates remain high at nearly 90% globally and 92.5% in the U.S. and Canada, and membership growth was up 4.8%.
Costco stock is up 16% this year, outpacing the market as it demonstrates resilience and value.
Should you buy stock 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 $514,000!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,105,029!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 930% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 187% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of March 15, 2026.
Jennifer Saibil has positions in Walmart. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Costco Wholesale, and Walmart. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Recommended Articles
