The Walmart logo is seen near the store in Austin, the United States, October 23, 2025.
Jakub Porzycki | Nuphoto | Getty Images
Upon entering Walmart As CEO John Furner assumes the top role at the retailer, he will attempt to ride a period of dramatic stock growth that many of Walmart’s competitors have failed to match.
Walmart’s shares have more than quadrupled since outgoing CEO Doug McMillon took over in February 2014. In nine of the 12 calendar years that Walmart was at the helm, the company posted positive stock returns.
Among Walmart’s major competitors in the retail and grocery industry, only Amazon And Costco have had better stock returns since McMillon took the job. Meanwhile, Walmart shares have outperformed those of competitors like Target, Dollar General, Dollar tree, Kroger And Albertson.
McMillon will officially step down at the end of January, but will remain executive chairman and advisor. Although Furner will face the challenge of replicating the company’s performance under his predecessor, he has been a key catalyst for the company’s success as CEO of its largest sector, Walmart’s U.S. business.
Along with huge gains on Wall Street, McMillon oversaw a period of significant growth for the nation’s largest grocer, which included big 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 tumult of a global pandemic, historic inflation levels and higher tariffs.
Sales during McMillon’s first three years in office remained roughly flat – with revenues of $486 billion, $482 billion and $485 billion in the ending fiscal years. January 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively.
Yet 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 look for value. Walmart reported annual revenue of about $681 billion in the fiscal year that ended earlier this year, up about 40% from annual revenue in the first year of McMillon’s tenure.
This year, Walmart is on track to post annual revenue of more than $700 billion for the first time. Ironically, however, it is also expected to lose its crown as the largest retailer by annual revenue to its biggest e-commerce rival, Amazon.
Earlier this year, Amazon overtook Walmart for the first time in quarterly sales. Compared to Walmart, its business mix is different due to its massive cloud computing, advertising and seller services businesses.
How Walmart’s Stock Compares to Its Competitors
Amazon’s stock gains outpaced those of Walmart during the years of McMillon’s tenure, with stock gains of 1,225% for the tech giant, compared to a 312% increase for Walmart.
However, Walmart’s performance on Wall Street far outpaced that of its major retailer competitor. TargetThis was when McMillon was CEO. Target’s shares are up about 60% since February 2014, compared to Walmart’s 312%.
During the Covid pandemic years, Target’s significant market share gains outpaced those of Walmart. Yet the Minneapolis-based chic discount retailer’s annual sales have been stagnant for about four years and are weighing on its stock performance.
Like Walmart, Target is preparing for a leadership change in February. Last month, Target announced that Michael Fiddelke, its chief operating officer and former chief financial officer, would succeed longtime CEO Brian Cornell.
Costco also stands out as a competitor that has seen larger market share gains than Walmart. Shares of retailer Warehouse Club, which competes with both Walmart stores and those of its warehouse chain, Sam’s Club, have soared more than 700% during the years of McMillon’s tenure.
Walmart Supermarket Competitors — Kroger And Albertsonin particular, are lagging behind. Shares of Kroger, which includes about two dozen grocery chains including Fred Meyer and Ralphs, have soared 265% during McMillon’s tenure. Shares of Albertsons, which includes Safeway, Tom Thumb and other grocery chains, are up just 16%.
Albertsons went public in 2020, giving it less time to make stock market gains. For about two of those years, between about 2022 and 2024, Kroger and Albertsons also sought to merge their two companies to form a larger grocer that could better compete with Walmart, Costco, Amazon and others. The deal was ultimately blocked by a U.S. judge, after the Federal Trade Commission sued to stop the merger.
Dollar stores also haven’t achieved Walmart’s stock performance when McMillon was CEO. Dollar tree And Dollar Generalwhich competes with Walmart by offering groceries and other items at low prices, saw market share gains of 104% and 85%, respectively, compared to a 312% increase for Walmart.
Notably, shares of both dollar store banners outperformed Walmart’s in some of those years, but have struggled more recently.
Walmart shares were about flat Friday after the retirement announcement, and shares have climbed about 13% this year.
—Tom Rotunno of CNBC contributed to this report.