Walmart stock performance Doug McMillon vs. Target, Amazon, and Costco

When incoming Walmart CEO John Furner takes on the retailer’s top role, and will attempt to pursue a period of significant growth in the stock that many of Walmart’s competitors have failed to match.

Walmart shares have more than quadrupled since outgoing CEO Doug McMillon took the helm in February 2014. For nine of the 12 calendar years when he was Walmart’s leader, the company generated positive stock returns.

Walmart’s main competitors are in the retail and grocery business only Amazon and Costco It has had better returns on stocks since McMillon took the job. Meanwhile, Walmart shares have outperformed those of competitors such as… goal, Dollar General, Dollar tree, Kroger and Albertsons.

McMillon is scheduled to formally step down at the end of January, but will remain as executive chairman and advisor. While Woerner will face a challenge in replicating the company’s performance under his predecessor, he has been a key driver of the company’s success as CEO of its largest segment, Walmart’s U.S. business.

Besides the huge gains on Wall Street, McMillon has overseen a significant period of growth for the nation’s largest grocery company, which has included sharp increases in sales, increased wages for hourly workers, and transformed the nation’s low-priced leader into a major player in e-commerce. He also guided the retailer through the turmoil of the global pandemic, historic inflation levels and rising tariffs.

Sales during McMillon’s first three years in the position were roughly flat, with revenues of $486 billion, $482 billion, and $485 billion in the fiscal years ending. January 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively.

However, those years were followed by steady growth, and those gains have accelerated since 2021, after the Covid pandemic prompted more people to shop online and inflation pushed even the wealthiest shoppers to seek value. Walmart posted annual revenue of about $681 billion in the fiscal year ending earlier this year, a roughly 40% jump from the company’s annual revenue in the first year of McMillon’s tenure.

This year, Walmart is on track to achieve annual revenues of more than $700 billion for the first time ever. Ironically, it is also expected to lose its crown as the largest retailer by annual revenue to its largest e-commerce competitor, Amazon.

Earlier this year, Amazon leapfrogged Walmart in quarterly sales for the first time. Compared to Walmart, it has a different mix of its business due to its huge business in cloud computing, advertising, and seller services.

Amazon’s stock gains outpaced Walmart’s gains during McMillon’s tenure, with the tech giant posting gains of 1,225% compared to a 312% gain by Walmart.

However, Walmart’s performance on Wall Street has far outpaced its big-box retail competitor goalDuring McMillon’s tenure as CEO. Target shares have risen about 60% since February 2014, compared with Walmart’s gain of 312%.

During the Covid years, Target’s sharp stock gains exceeded those of Walmart. However, the Minneapolis-based chic, cheap retailer’s annual sales have remained virtually stagnant for about four years and dragged down the performance of its stock.

Like Walmart, Target is preparing for a leadership change in February. Last month, Target said Michael Fidelke, its former chief operating officer and chief financial officer, would succeed longtime CEO Brian Cornell.

Costco It also stands out as a competitor with bigger stock gains than Walmart. Shares of the warehouse club retailer, which competes with both Walmart Stores and those of its warehouse chain, Sam’s Club, rose more than 700% during McMillon’s years.

Walmart’s competitors in supermarkets – Kroger and Albertsonsin particular – lagged behind it. Shares of Kroger, which includes about 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 to realize stock gains. For about two of those years, from about 2022 to 2024, Kroger and Albertsons also sought to merge their companies into a larger grocery company that could better compete with Walmart, Costco, Amazon and others. The deal was eventually blocked by a US judge, after the Federal Trade Commission sued to stop the merger.

Dollar stores also underperformed Walmart stock while McMillon was CEO. Dollar tree and Dollar Generalwhich competes with Walmart in offering groceries and other items at lower prices, posted gains of 104% and 85%, respectively, compared with Walmart’s 312% increase.

Notably, shares of both dollar store banners outperformed Walmart’s stock during some of those years, but have been struggling recently.

Walmart stock was nearly flat on Friday after the retirement announcement, and shares are up about 13% this year.

— CNBC’s Tom Rotunno contributed to this report.