Buffett Brain · Research note
Score updated 21 Oct 2026 · analysis from 1 Jun 2026
WMT· Consumer Staples
Walmart
Walmart is a magnificent retailer trading at a price that leaves no room for the buyer, with an owner-earnings yield of just 1.6 percent.
Buffett fit
Partial fit
Owner
20
Durability
82
Management
70
Price
0
Score updated 21 Oct 2026 · analysis from 1 Jun 2026
Buffett's checklist
Each number against Buffett's bar, and where it ranks among Consumer Staples stocks in our database.
How much profit the business makes on each dollar invested in it. Higher is better.
What is left of each sale after the cost of making the product. A high number often means pricing power.
The cash the business earns for its owners, compared with the price of the whole company.
How fast sales grew each year over the last five years.
How many years of today's profit you pay for at today's price. Lower means cheaper.
How much the company owes compared with what it owns outright. Lower is safer.
The four pillars
How the business measures up on each of Buffett's four tests.
If I owned the whole company at this price, I would be paying roughly 40 times earnings for a business that yields me 1.6 percent in .
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The durability here is genuine and I do not question it. Walmart has survived every recession, every new competitor, and the arrival of the internet, and its scale only deepens with time.
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Management has run this business sensibly. They earn an 11.9 percent return on capital, a touch above their 11.0 percent five year average, and they have steadily bought back stock, shrinking the count about 1.2 percent a year.
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There is no here, none at all, and the valuation_score of zero says so plainly.
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For and against
The strongest points on each side, with the numbers behind them.
In its favor
6- 1Rock-solid durability with earnings that have never fallen more than 12.3 percent in a bad year
- 2Genuine scale advantage producing an 11.9 percent , above the 11.0 percent five year average
- 3Steady top-line growth, with revenue at 5.6 percent a year
- 4Earnings per share growing 13.9 percent annually, outpacing revenue thanks partly to disciplined
Concerns
7- 1Valuation leaves no room: a of 40 and an owner-earnings yield of just 1.6 percent mean you are overpaying badly
- 2EV to of 33 confirms the stock is priced for perfection, not for a 4.2 percent business
- 3A 2.5 percent earnings yield is thinner than a risk-free Treasury, a poor trade for equity risk
- 4Wafer-thin of 4.2 percent leaves little cushion if costs rise or price wars intensify
Price history
$118+138.3%· 5-year return
Weekly closing prices. Touch or hover the line for a date.
The business
How the business works
Walmart sells groceries and general merchandise at thin margins and enormous volume, running on a 25.0 percent that shrinks to a 4.2 percent once it pays its people and runs its stores. The model is to undercut everyone on price, turn inventory fast, and earn an honest 11.9 percent across thousands of locations. Revenue compounds at a steady 5.6 percent while earnings per share have grown faster at 13.9 percent, helped by that trimmed the share count by about 1.2 percent a year.
How this analysis has moved
The call has held across 5 reviews.
Sep 27, 2026 → Oct 21, 2026
What other investors would say
The same company, judged by three other documented playbooks.
Keep researching
Similar companies in Consumer Staples
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