Walmart Shares Rise to $111.84 as CEO Furner Says the Company Will "Price the Product, Not the Person"

Walmart shares edged higher Monday, trading at $111.84, up 49 cents, or 0.44 percent, in a session with no new earnings figure and with the retailer's next report set for Nov. 19.

The stock's 52-week range is about $98.90 to $135.15. The market value is roughly $883 billion. Trailing revenue is about $736 billion. Net income is about $22 billion. Earnings per share are $2.76. The dividend yield is about 0.89 percent, with the next ex-dividend date Dec. 11. Analysts rate the shares a buy, with an average target near $127. The shares are about 17 percent below the 52-week high.

Chief Executive John Furner, who succeeded Doug McMillon on Feb. 1, addressed shareholders in a letter that centered on growth and on how the company will use artificial intelligence. "Last year we grew revenue, in constant currency, 5.1% to $715.9 billion, and on an adjusted basis profit grew even faster at 5.4%," he wrote. Global e-commerce rose 24 percent to $150.4 billion. Operating cash flow reached $41.6 billion. The company returned $15.6 billion to shareholders. Advertising grew 46 percent to nearly $6.4 billion. Membership fee revenue exceeded $4.3 billion.

Furner also set a limit on what the company's AI tools will do with customer data. "We don't set different prices based on who you are or the time of day, and we won't," he wrote. "Your income, shopping history, urgency or what we think you could pay won't change the price." He added, "We want to offer that same level of personalized care when our customers shop online with Sparky, our AI shopping assistant. When you engage with Sparky, that's an invitation to serve you better, not to use your personal information to set a personalized price. We've never used the relationships our associates have with customers to charge more, and we won't do that with AI." Shoppers using Sparky have shown a 35 percent higher order value than average, the company has said.

In a meeting with Bank of America analysts, Furner said first-half market-share gains were stronger than in any of the past three or four years. The online marketplace was up 50 percent. He also noted that the government's most-favored-nation drug-pricing policy removed about 80 basis points from U.S. same-store sales growth.

A 0.44 percent move on no new number is a quiet session for a stock that has already priced a leadership change, an AI shopping tool and a public promise not to personalize prices. The Nov. 19 report is the next figure that can test whether the share gains and the Sparky order-value lift are still in the quarterly numbers.