WALMART

Walmart Inc. is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores, and grocery stores, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas.

The company has a history dating back to 1962 when it was first founded by Sam Walton. His primary focus was selling products at low prices to get higher-volume sales at a lower profit margin, portraying it as a crusade for the consumer.

Sales increased 45 percent in his first year of ownership to US$ 105 000 in revenue, which increased to $ 140 000 the next year and $ 175 000 the year after that. Within the fifth year, the store was generating $ 250,000 in revenue.

The lease then expired for the location and Walton was unable to reach an agreement for renewal, so he opened up a new store at 105 N. Main Street in Bentonville, naming it “Walton’s Five and Dime”. That store is now the Walmart Museum.

The company was incorporated as Wal-Mart Inc. on October 31, 1969, and changed its name to Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. in 1970. The same year, the company opened a home office and first distribution centre in Bentonville, Arkansas. It had 38 stores operating with 1 500 employees and sales of $ 44.2 million.

The company began trading stock as a publicly held company on October 1, 1970, and was soon listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

While it was the third-largest retailer in the United States, Walmart was more profitable than rivals Kmart and Sears by the late 1980s. By 1990, the company became the largest U.S. retailer by revenue.

Today, Walmart is the world’s largest company by revenue, with US$ 514.405 billion, according to the Fortune Global 500 list in 2019.

The company is also the largest private employer in the world with 2.2 million employees. It is a publicly traded family-owned business, as the company is controlled by the Walton family. Sam Walton’s heirs own over 50 percent of Walmart through their holding company Walton Enterprises and through their individual holdings.

Walmart was the largest U.S. grocery retailer in 2019, and 65 percent of Walmart’s US$ 510.329 billion sales came from U.S. operations.

Walmart’s operational portfolio is organized into four divisions: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, Sam’s Club and Global e-Commerce.

The company offers various retail formats throughout these divisions, including supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash-and-carry stores, home improvement, specialty electronics, restaurants, apparel stores, drugstores, convenience stores, and digital retail.

Walmart Inc. has established itself as the world’s biggest company by revenue through its Every Day Low Price (EDLP) strategy, recognizing that today’s customer seeks the convenience of one-stop shopping that it offers.

From grocery and entertainment to sporting goods and crafts, the company provides the deep assortment that meets a wide number of customer needs — whether they’re shopping online at Walmart.com, through one of its mobile apps or shopping in a store.

The company currently operates three primary store formats in the U.S., each custom tailored to its neighbourhood.

As such, Walmart Inc. has stores in 50 states and Puerto Rico offering low prices on the broadest assortment of products through a variety of formats including the Supercenter, Discount Store and Neighborhood Market.

Walmart’s 150+ distribution centres are hubs of activity for its business. The company’s distribution operation is one of the largest in the world servicing stores, clubs and direct delivery to customers.

Walmart transportation has a fleet of 6 100 tractors, 61 000 trailers and more than 7 800 drivers.

Walmart International has more than 5 900 retail units, operating outside the United States with 55 banners in 26 countries with more than 700 000 associates serving more than 100 million customers every week.

Added to this, the company is also one of the fastest growing and most dynamic e-commerce organizations. The company’s largest website, Walmart.com, sees up to 100 million unique visitors a month, according to comScore, and is growing every year.

It is no wonder then that the company has experienced one of its best fiscal quarters in 2025, during the coronavirus pandemic, with many shelter-in-place consumers taking advantage of the company’s affordable prices for home deliveries.

Walmart Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) where investors can buy shares under the stock symbol – WMT

Data from the company’s 2025 financial analysis of its fiscal fourth quarter results shows total revenue was $ 141.7 billion, an increase of $2.9 billion, or 2.1%.

Walmart U.S. comp sales increased on a two-year stacked basis by 6.0% with continued strength in food and consumables.

Walmart U.S. e-Commerce had strong growth in grocery pickup and delivery, and walmart.com had its highest quarterly growth rate of the year.

The company generated $25.3 billion in operating cash flow and returned $11.8 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.

In terms of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Walmart stocks rose more than 13% in March as consumers stockpiled amid the coronavirus crisis. The gain puts it on track for its best month since 2014.

The company established a substantial lead in the grocery sector thanks to its already burgeoning online retail platform.

The company’s willingness to invest early on in its online grocery platform has allowed it to flourish where many other retailers, still relying heavily on in-store sale, have largely felt the pinch.

With the development of the COVID-19 coronavirus, Walmart has been fielding increased demand and hiring thousands of new workers to meet it. Since many retailers have shut their doors and some state governments have ordered lockdowns, people have no choice but to turn to the consumer staples retailers, such as Walmart.

As such, with a broad network of physical stores and solid infrastructure for grocery delivery, Walmart has gained the trust and loyalty of customers and a stable stock price amid the chaos.

With this market somewhat cornered, and with consumer staples (especially toilet paper) being shoppers’ top priority while in quarantine or just laying low, all Walmart has to do is continue satisfying customers to keep its place.

All in all, Walmart Inc.’s strategic price model coupled with its heavy investment in online retail has allowed the company to deliver a strong performance with solid dividends and a rising share price for investors who choose to purchase shares today, securing a strong buy-in in 2025 and in the future.

Consumer products

Retail

Mass Merchants

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• Can I buy Walmart shares in South Africa?
  Yes, you can.

• How to buy Walmart shares
  By simply opening a free account on SA Shares, or by clicking the “Buy this Share” button to get started.

• What is the current share price?
  By clicking on the link provided above, you can view the real-time Walmart share price on the platform.

• Is Walmart a good share to buy?
  Yes, Walmart Inc. has seen an impressive spike in its share price along with a strong quarterly performance in 2025 largely as a result of increasing consumer demand for the company’s online grocer facilities.
  The company’s competitive pricing strategy combined with its leading home delivery capabilities have made it the retail giant of choice for most consumers across nearly all of its markets.

• Can I buy Walmart CFD through SA Shares?
  Yes, you can.