For most investors, how much a stock's price changes over time is important. This factor can impact your investment portfolio as well as help you compare investment results across sectors and industries.

The fear of missing out, or FOMO, also plays a factor in investing, especially with particular tech giants, as well as popular consumer-facing stocks.

What if you'd invested in Walmart (WMT Quick QuoteWMT - Free Report) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to WMT for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?

Walmart's Business In-Depth

With that in mind, let's take a look at Walmart's main business drivers.

Walmart Inc. has evolved from just being a traditional brick-and-mortar retailer into an omnichannel player. In this regard, acquisitions; partnerships; delivery programs like Walmart + and Express Delivery; and investment in online e-commerce platform Flipkart are noteworthy. These position the company to keep pace with the changing retail ecosystem and stay firm in the presence of rivals like Amazon and Target. Markedly, Walmart’s product offerings include almost everything from grocery to cosmetics, electronics to stationery, home furnishings to health and wellness products, and apparel to entertainment products, to name a few.

This Bentonville-based retailer operates variety stores, discount stores, supercenters, Sam’s Clubs and Neighborhood Markets, along with the websites – walmart.com and samsclub.com. The company offers merchandise under its private-label store brands, which comprises of Equate, Faded Glory, George, Great Value, Holiday Time, Mainstays, and others. The company also markets merchandise under licensed brands, such as, Better Homes & Gardens, General Electric and more.

The company operates as Walmart in the United States (its largest segment), including the 50 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. Apart from United States, Walmart has operations in Canada, Chile, China, India, Mexico, Africa and Central America. The company operates in Mexico as Walmex and in India as Best Price. As of Feb 20, 2024, Walmart operated more than 10,500 stores across 19 countries, alongside its e-commerce sites.

Walmart conducts its businesses under three segments, and generated revenues of $648 billion in fiscal 2024.

Walmart U.S. (68.2% of fiscal 2024 revenues) operates retail stores in different formats in the U.S. and also in Puerto Rico.

Walmart International (17.7%) consists of retail operations outside the United States.

Sam’s Club (13.3%) comprises membership warehouse clubs in the United States and in Puerto Rico.

On Jan 30, 2024, management authorized a three-for-one forward split of its common shares and a proportionate rise in the number of authorized shares. Consequently, each shareholder, as of Feb 22, 2024, will receive two extra shares of the common stock.

Bottom Line

Putting together a successful investment portfolio takes a combination of research, patience, and a little bit of risk. For Walmart, if you bought shares a decade ago, you're likely feeling really good about your investment today.

According to our calculations, a $1000 investment made in November 2014 would be worth $3,230.76, or a gain of 223.08%, as of November 11, 2024, and this return excludes dividends but includes price increases.

Compare this to the S&P 500's rally of 195.07% and gold's return of 121.31% over the same time frame.

Looking ahead, analysts are expecting more upside for WMT.

Shares of Walmart have outpaced the industry over the past year, benefiting from its diverse business model that spans multiple segments, channels, and formats. The company's strong omnichannel strategy has boosted traffic across both physical stores and digital platforms. Its emphasis on improving delivery services has been successful, contributing to steady grocery market share gains. Upsides like these, along with growth in the advertising business, fueled second-quarter fiscal 2025 results, wherein the top and bottom lines grew year over year, and e-commerce sales surged. However, the retail landscape remains dynamic due to challenges like inflation and volatile consumer spending. High operating costs are also a concern. While Walmart raised its fiscal 2025 view, its modest growth targets for the third quarter reflect a cautious approach.

Shares have gained 5.91% over the past four weeks and there have been 1 higher earnings estimate revisions for fiscal 2024 compared to none lower. The consensus estimate has moved up as well.