Is Walmart a Publicly Traded Company in 2026? An In-Depth Investor‘s Guide

If you‘ve shopped at any of Walmart‘s over 10,000 stores worldwide, you may be curious if you can invest in this retail giant. So let‘s explore the question – is Walmart a publicly traded company in 2024?

After digging into Walmart‘s fascinating history and reviewing its status on the stock market today, the answer is a resounding yes! Walmart has been publicly traded for over 50 years.

While the Walmart Corporation is public, the individual Walmart and Sam‘s Club stores you shop at are owned and managed privately by independent operators. But the parent company behind the brand trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker WMT.

This means every day investors have the opportunity to purchase Walmart shares and own a piece of the world‘s largest retailer.

Let’s take a more in-depth look at Walmart’s journey on the stock market.

The Rise of Private Walmart

It’s hard to imagine a time when Walmart wasn’t a retail behemoth. But Sam Walton built the company store-by-store over decades, beginning in 1962.

Walton opened the very first Walmart in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962 based on his vision to offer customers lower prices by buying merchandise in volume. This first location brought in over $700k in sales in its first year!

Over the next eight years, the private Walmart chain expanded rapidly. By 1970, Walmart had 38 stores open across Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma with $44 million in annual sales.

Here’s a look at the private Walmart’s fast early growth:

• 1962: First store opens in Rogers, AR

• 1968: 21 stores generate $31 million in sales

• 1969: 32 stores bring in $41 million annually

• 1970: 38 stores produce $44 million in sales

But this exponential growth as a private company soon hit a roadblock. Let‘s hear it from Sam Walton himself:

"By 1970, we had 38 Wal-Mart stores, doing a pretty good business — about $44,000,000 annually. We went public in October of 1970, primarily to raise funds for further expansion. I didn‘t want to go public initially, but when we started opening stores so fast we needed the capital, and we needed it quick.”

With access to additional capital, Walmart would be able to rapidly spread its discount stores into new markets across the United States. Let‘s take a look at how the young company achieved this through an initial public offering.

Walmart Goes Public With 1970 IPO

Walmart held its initial public offering (IPO) and first offered stock for public investment in October 1970. This marked the transition from family-owned private Walmart to publicly traded Walmart.

Here are the key details on Walmart‘s 1970 IPO:

• Date: October 1, 1970

• Offering Price: $16.50 per share

• Shares Issued: 300,000

• Capital Raised: $4.7 million

The IPO allowed Walmart to quickly raise nearly $5 million (equivalent to $34 million today) to accelerate expansion plans. Instead of taking on more loans, the company could now fund growth through stock ownership.

Just imagine if you had gotten in on the ground floor and purchased 100 shares at the IPO price. Your investment of $1,650 in 1970 would be worth over $1 million today!

But let‘s take a look at what happened after the IPO before Walmart joined the big leagues of the New York Stock Exchange.

Two Years of OTC Trading Before NYSE Listing

From October 1970 to August 1972, trading of Walmart stock took place over-the-counter (OTC). OTC refers to stocks that don‘t meet the requirements to list on major exchanges like the NYSE yet.

Over-the-counter trading is decentralized with transactions occurring directly between parties rather than on a centralized exchange.

With dynamic growth continuing after the IPO, Walmart soon qualified to move to the NYSE. This provided more stability, liquidity, and prestige for investors.

Walmart Joins the NYSE in 1972

On August 25, 1972, Walmart stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “WMT” – now a ubiquitous symbol representing the public Walmart.

Listing on the NYSE was a major milestone that enabled Walmart to access more capital and accelerate its strategy to bring discount shopping to main streets across America.

In 1972 when it joined the NYSE, Walmart was operating 125 stores and bringing in $78 million in annual revenues.

From its humble origins in Arkansas, Walmart was now a fully public company with shares available for purchase by institutional and individual investors.

Let’s look at who the major Walmart shareholders are today.

Breakdown of Current Walmart Shareholders

Walmart has over 3 billion shares outstanding today, owned by a range of shareholders:

• The Walton Family – Direct descendants of Sam Walton own over 50% of Walmart‘s stock through personal holdings and Walton Enterprises. This includes Rob Walton, Jim Walton, Alice Walton, and others.

• Institutional Investors – Mutual funds like Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street Global Advisors control significant blocks of Walmart stock. Over 25% of shares are held by large institutional investors.

• Individual Investors – From retirees to hedge fund managers, millions of individual investors own pieces of Walmart stock, some through retirement plan investments.

• Walmart Associates – Employees gain shares through Associate Stock Purchase Plans, now known as Associate Share Purchase Plans. Associates owned 4% of Walmart stock in 2021.

While the Waltons and institutional players own the lion‘s share, individual investors also have opportunities to buy WMT shares. Now let‘s go through how you can purchase Walmart stock yourself.

How to Buy Walmart Stock in 3 Easy Steps

Here is a step-by-step walkthrough on how individual investors can buy shares of Walmart on the public market:

Step 1) Open a Brokerage Account

The easiest way to buy stocks is through an online brokerage firm like Fidelity, E*TRADE, Vanguard, or Charles Schwab. You‘ll need to open an account, connect your bank account, and deposit funds.

Step 2) Research Walmart Stock

Before buying WMT shares, make sure to research historical performance, competing retailers, dividend yields, and Walmart business news. Get a sense of the risks and investment potential.

Step 3) Place a Trade Order for WMT

Once ready, you can place a market order for Walmart stock using your brokerage account dashboard or mobile app. Enter the ticker symbol WMT, the number of shares, then review and submit the trade order.

And just like that, you‘ll join the millions of Walmart shareholders! As part owner, you‘ll reap the benefits if WMT performs well.

Walmart‘s Impressive Stock Performance Since IPO

Since its humble beginnings, Walmart has delivered strong returns for early and long-term shareholders through stock price growth and dividends.

Let‘s look at how Walmart‘s stock has performed over the decades compared to broader market performance:

A $1,000 investment in Walmart at its IPO would be worth over $1.5 million today, vastly outpacing market returns over the long run. However, as the data shows, Walmart has seen periods of ups and downs.

For stock investors, Walmart represents a stable long-term buy-and-hold opportunity, although the position still carries risk.

Is Walmart Still a Good Investment? Potential Risks

Despite its strong track record, Walmart faces risks and challenges that investors must weigh:

• Intense retail competition – Walmart competes with e-commerce giants like Amazon and brick-and-mortar rivals like Target and Costco. Pressures from competitors may hurt Walmart‘s revenues.

• Online retail push – Investments in e-commerce like the 2016 Jet.com acquisition have been expensive with uncertain payoff. Walmart lags Amazon in U.S. ecommerce market share.

• Poor worker relations – Walmart has faced protests over low wages and benefit cuts. While Walmart has increased minimum pay rates, ongoing labor issues pose a brand reputation risk.

• Supply chain difficulties – Walmart‘s dependence on imports makes it vulnerable to port delays, material shortages, and rising shipping costs. This can negatively impact inventory and profits.

While Walmart‘s size and brand power provide some protection, an investment in WMT stock is not without risk. Make sure to diversify holdings rather than concentrating your portfolio.

Conclusion: Walmart – Publicly Traded Retail Giant Since 1970

In summary, Walmart transitioned from private to public ownership in 1970 and is still publicly traded today, 50+ years later. The Walton family took the discount retailer public through an initial stock offering to raise funds for ambitious expansion plans.

After two years trading over-the-counter, Walmart listed on the NYSE in 1972 under the ticker WMT. It‘s now one of the 30 companies that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average and a long-time component of the S&P 500.

Individual and institutional investors alike can purchase Walmart stock through a brokerage account and own a piece of the world‘s #1 retailer. While past returns are no guarantee of future results, Walmart‘s strong brand and financial performance offer stability for buy-and-hold investors.

So while your local Walmart store is not publicly owned, the parent company behind the brand certainly is. Walmart remains one of the most widely held public companies both domestically and globally.