Amazon surpasses Walmart in annual revenue for first time, as both chase AI-fueled growth
#Amazon#Walmart#revenue#AI#retail#competition#artificial intelligence#market value
📌 Key Takeaways
Amazon surpassed Walmart in annual revenue for the first time
Amazon's diversified revenue streams including cloud computing and third-party services
Walmart's digital business grew 27% in Q4 with 15 consecutive quarters of double-digit gains
Both companies are heavily investing in AI to transform their operations and customer experiences
📖 Full Retelling
Amazon has dethroned Walmart as the company with the largest annual revenue, reporting $716.9 billion compared to Walmart's $713.2 billion in its most recent fiscal year, marking a significant shift in the retail landscape as both tech giants compete for dominance in an era increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence. The milestone was brewing for months, as Amazon leapfrogged Walmart in quarterly sales for the first time about a year ago, though the swap is largely symbolic given the massive scale of both businesses. Amazon achieved this position through diversified revenue streams beyond its core retail operations, with third-party seller services accounting for approximately 24% of total sales and Amazon Web Services contributing about 18%. Meanwhile, Walmart has leveraged its extensive physical footprint—more than 4,600 stores and 600 Sam's Club locations in the U.S.—to power its digital business, which grew by 27% in the U.S. during the fourth fiscal quarter and has posted double-digit percentage gains for 15 consecutive quarters. The retail rivalry has entered a new phase as both companies heavily invest in AI technologies to reshape how they operate, make money and drive sales, with Walmart moving its listing to the Nasdaq and reaching a $1 trillion market valuation earlier this month.
🏷️ Themes
Retail Competition, AI Transformation, Business Strategy
# Artificial Intelligence (AI)
**Artificial Intelligence (AI)** is a specialized field of computer science dedicated to the development and study of computational systems capable of performing tasks typically associated with human intelligence. These tasks include learning, reasoning, problem-solvi...
American multinational retail corporation operating department stores
Walmart Inc. is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 19 other countries. It is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas.
In this article AMZN WMT Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Signs for Walmart and Amazon. Getty Images For the first time, Amazon has dethroned Walmart as the company with the largest annual revenue. Walmart on Thursday reported annual revenue of $713.2 billion for its most recent fiscal year, shy of Amazon's $716.9 billion in revenue. The milestone was brewing for months, as Amazon leapfrogged Walmart in quarterly sales for the first time about a year ago. The shuffle, while largely symbolic, underscores the battle the two retailers have waged both to define and keep up with ever-changing consumer preferences. They are kicking off a new chapter of that rivalry as artificial intelligence reshapes how companies operate, make money and drive sales. Amazon rose to the top of the revenue pile by doing much more than running a sprawling online webstore and promising speedy delivery. While its core retail unit is its largest revenue generator, its huge cloud computing, advertising and seller services businesses also fuel its sales. Third-party seller services, which include commissions and fees collected by Amazon fulfillment along with shipping, advertising and customer support, accounted for about 24% of the company's total sales in 2025, according to its latest annual filing. Amazon Web Services was responsible for roughly 18%. It wasn't Walmart's weakness that led it to lose its top spot, as its revenue has more than doubled in 20 years. The retailer has leaned on its more than 4,600 Walmart stores and roughly 600 Sam's Club locations in the U.S. to power its digital business, which grew by 27% in the U.S. in the fiscal fourth quarter and has posted double-digit percentage gains for 15 straight quarters. That expansion came as Walmart riffed off the Amazon playbook and tried to position itself as a tech company as well as a retailer. There have been multiple signs of its ambitions: Walmart relisted its stock, moving from the New York Stock Exchange to the...