Walmart Doug McMillon stock performance vs. Target, Amazon, Costco
The Walmart logo is seen near the store in Austin, United States, on October 23, 2025.
Jakub Porzycki | Nurfoto | Getty Images
when you arrive Walmart When CEO John Furner steps into the retailer’s top job, he will seek to follow a period of dramatic share growth that many of Walmart’s rivals have failed to match.
Walmart’s shares have more than quadrupled since outgoing CEO Doug McMillon took office in February 2014. In nine of the 12 calendar years in which Walmart was the leader, the company reported positive stock returns.
Among Walmart’s main competitors in the retail and grocery businesses, only Amazon And costco Stock returns have been better since McMillon took the job. Meanwhile, Walmart’s shares outpace those of its rivals Aim, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Kroger And Albertsons.
McMillon will officially resign at the end of January but will remain as chairman and advisor. Although Furner would face challenges in replicating the company’s performance under his predecessor, he became a key catalyst in the company’s success as CEO of Walmart’s largest segment, its U.S. business.
Along with big gains on Wall Street, McMillon oversaw a period of significant growth for the nation’s largest grocer, which included sharp sales increases, wage increases for hourly workers and the transformation of the nation’s low-price leader into a major e-commerce player. He also guided the retailer through the turmoil of a global pandemic, historic inflation levels and high tariffs.
Sales during McMillon’s first three years in office remained approximately flat; revenues totaled $486 billion, $482 billion and $485 billion in the fiscal years ended. January 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively.
But those years were followed by steady growth, and those gains have accelerated since 2021 after the Covid pandemic pushed more people to shop online and inflation pushed even wealthier shoppers to seek value. Walmart posted annual revenue of approximately $681 billion for the fiscal year that ended earlier this year; That’s a nearly 40% increase over the company’s annual revenue in the first year of McMillon’s tenure.
This year, Walmart is on track to top $700 billion in annual revenue for the first time. But ironically, it is also expected to lose its title as the largest retailer in terms of annual revenue to its largest e-commerce rival. Amazon.
Earlier this year, Amazon surpassed Walmart in quarterly sales for the first time. It has a different mix of business compared to Walmart due to its massive cloud computing, advertising and merchant services businesses.
How do Walmart’s shares compare to its competitors?
Amazon’s stock gains outpaced Walmart’s during McMillon’s years in office; The tech giant had a 1,225% share gain compared to Walmart’s 312% gain.
But Walmart’s performance on Wall Street far outpaced its rival in big-box retailers. AimDuring McMillon’s time as CEO. Target’s shares are up nearly 60% since February 2014, compared to Walmart’s gain of 312%.
During the Covid pandemic years, Target’s lofty share gains outpaced Walmart’s. But the Minneapolis-based cheap-and-chic retailer’s annual sales have been roughly stagnant for nearly four years, dragging down its stock performance.
Like Walmart, Target is preparing for a leadership change in February. Last month, Target said chief operating officer and former CFO Michael Fiddelke would replace longtime CEO Brian Cornell.
costco It also stands out as a rival with greater share gains than Walmart. Shares of the warehouse club retailer, which competes with both Walmart stores and warehouse chain Sam’s Club, rose more than 700% during McMillon’s years in office.
Walmart’s supermarket rivals — Kroger And Albertsonsspecifically – fell short of that. Shares of Kroger, which includes nearly two dozen grocery chains including Fred Meyer and Ralphs, rose 265% during McMillon’s tenure. Shares of Albertsons, which includes Safeway, Tom Thumb and other grocery chains, rose just 16%.
Albertsons went public in 2020, giving it less time for stock gains. For about two of those years, from 2022 through 2024, Kroger and Albertsons have sought to combine their two companies into a larger grocer that could better compete with Walmart, Costco, Amazon and others. The deal was blocked by a US judge after the Federal Trade Commission sued to stop the merger.
Dollar stores also lagged behind Walmart’s stock performance during McMillon’s time as CEO. Dollar Tree And Dollar GeneralShares gained 104% and 85%, respectively, compared to a 312% gain for Walmart, which competes with Walmart in offering groceries and other products at low prices.
Notably, shares of both dollar store banners have outperformed Walmart’s for some of those years, but have been struggling lately.
Walmart’s shares were flat on Friday following its retirement announcement, and shares are up about 13% this year.
— CNBC’s Tom Rotunno contributed to this report.
