Walmart Stock Gets an Upgrade as Analyst Sees More Room to Run

Walmart’s growing marketplace, advertising, and membership businesses could lift margins and help drive shares higher, Deutsche Bank says. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)

Key Points

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Walmart stock to Buy from Hold and raised its price target to $136 from $113.
• Walmart shares rose 3.7% to $120.43 on Thursday following the upgrade.
• Analyst Krisztina Katai says higher-margin revenue streams and warehouse automation should expand Walmart’s profit margins.

Walmart has more room to run, Deutsche Bank says.

Deutsche Bank analyst Krisztina Katai sees higher inflation, expanding profit margins, and more disclosures from management about gross merchandise volume as factors that could propel the stock higher.

The firm upgraded Walmart stock to Buy from Hold on Thursday, raising its price target to $136 from $113, suggesting 17% upside from Wednesday’s closing price of $116.16.

Shares of Walmart rose 3.7% to $120.43 Thursday, extending the rally from Wednesday when shares closed up 3.5%. The stock was heading for its largest single-day percentage gain since Feb. 2, when it rose 4.1%, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

The Barron’s Daily

A morning briefing on what you need to know in the day ahead, including exclusive commentary from Barron’s and MarketWatch writers.

Email addressSubscribe

I agree to the Terms of Use, Privacy Notice and Cookie Notice.

I would like to receive updates and special offers from Dow Jones and affiliates.

The hotter-than-expected inflation report released Wednesday likely pushed investors to cash in on essential retail stocks, such as discount giants and grocers Walmart and Costco , as a safe haven from broader stock market turbulence. Katai thinks it’s time to start evaluating Walmart that way, too.

Shares had risen 4.3% this year as of the close of trading Wednesday, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

While Walmart has long been known as a traditional brick-and-mortar retailer, it has shifted toward an Amazon -like platform by expanding its online product catalog and membership services to lock in customer loyalty. Katai thinks it’s time to also start analyzing the numbers that way.

As services, advertising, and third-party marketplace sales become a larger part of Walmart’s business, she thinks looking only at revenue under traditional accounting doesn’t capture the full picture.

Instead, Katai thinks gross merchandise volume will become a “more important lens” for evaluating Walmart’s growth and market-share gains.

Another opportunity for Walmart lies in its profit margins. Katai wrote that its higher-margin revenue streams from e-commerce marketplace fees, retail media advertising, and membership fees have grown faster than low-margin core grocery sales. This growth, combined with automation in warehouses and distribution, should expand overall profit margins.

Katai joined a chorus of Walmart bulls on Wall Street. The average rating on Walmart stock is a Buy with an average price target of nearly $129, according to FactSet. Of the 48 analysts covering the stock, 88% recommend buying shares.

The upgrade came after Walmart shares suffered their worst single-day drop in nearly five years following the retailer’s mixed fiscal second-quarter results, opening up an attractive buying opportunity.

But Walmart still dominates the retail sector, and its growing ancillary revenue streams should help it maintain strong momentum. Shares have risen 9.8% since Barron’s recommended buying the stock on Sept. 9, 2026.

Shares of Costco gained 2.2%, while BJ’s Wholesale Club rose 1.3%.

Write to Mariapaula Gonzalez at mariapaula.gonzalez@barrons.com

Copyright ©2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8