Walmart Inc. (WMT) stock remained under pressure at the end of a difficult earnings week, with investors digesting softer-than-expected U.S. comparable sales even as the retailer prepares to introduce contactless payments at stores across the country.

The company's shares finished the week down roughly 9.8%, erasing an estimated $90 billion in market value. Walmart closed around $103.94 on August 21, compared with $115.27 a week earlier. The decline also carried significance beyond Walmart itself: as the largest U.S. retailer by revenue and a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the company's results are closely watched as a read on the health of American consumer spending.

The pressure came despite several areas of strength in Walmart's latest quarterly results. Revenue climbed 5.9% to $187.9 billion, while U.S. e-commerce increased 24% and store-fulfilled delivery jumped 40%. However, U.S. comparable sales excluding fuel grew only 2.6%, below the 3.8% increase analysts had expected. That disappointing sales figure overshadowed the retailer's stronger digital performance and contributed to a sharp reassessment of the stock.

Tap-to-Pay Rollout Begins August 24

Against that backdrop, Walmart is moving ahead with a major payment convenience upgrade. Beginning August 24, selected Walmart and Sam's Club locations in the United States will start accepting contactless payments made with cards, smartphones and smartwatches.

The rollout will also support Google Pay, giving customers another way to complete purchases without relying exclusively on Walmart's proprietary payment system. The shift is notable because Walmart had for years declined to accept third-party tap-to-pay wallets, steering shoppers instead to Walmart Pay, the QR-code-based system built into its app. That stance left it an outlier among major U.S. chains, most of which have accepted contactless payments for years, an option whose adoption accelerated sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Walmart expects the feature to reach all U.S. Walmart and Sam's Club locations by the end of 2026 — a network of roughly 4,600 Walmart stores and about 600 Sam's Club locations. Contactless payments are then expected to expand to Walmart and Sam's Club fuel stations by mid-2027.

The move addresses a long-standing gap in Walmart's checkout experience. Its financial significance remains uncertain, however, because the company has not provided specific estimates for additional revenue, cost savings or customer adoption. Instead, the immediate benefit could come from making transactions faster and more convenient. For a retailer processing enormous numbers of purchases, even small improvements in checkout efficiency could potentially improve the customer experience.

Earnings Results Remain Mixed

The market reaction shows that investors are currently more focused on sales momentum than payment technology.

Walmart generated $187.9 billion in revenue during the quarter ended July 31 — the company's fiscal second quarter — representing 5.9% year-over-year growth. Its U.S. e-commerce business delivered particularly strong momentum, rising 24%, while store-fulfilled delivery increased 40%.

Global advertising also performed strongly, increasing 38%. Adjusted operating income grew 17.4% on a constant-currency basis. Advertising is one of several businesses Walmart has built beyond its stores, alongside marketplace and membership offerings, that the company has positioned as faster-growing contributors to profit.

The 2.6% increase in U.S. comparable sales, however, became the central concern. The result missed expectations and raised questions about whether Walmart can maintain the pace of growth investors have come to expect from the retail giant.

Tariffs on imported goods emerged as one of the biggest cost pressures on U.S. retailers during 2025, and Walmart said earlier in the year that it expected to raise some prices in response. Some of the reported improvement in operating income also benefited from tariff refunds. Walmart indicated that it intends to use the remaining refunds to support lower prices, meaning investors may continue to watch underlying operating performance closely.

Analysts Remain Bullish Despite Target Cuts

Even after the stock's sharp decline, Wall Street analysts have generally maintained positive views on Walmart. Goldman Sachs retained a Buy rating while setting a $130 price target. BofA Securities also maintained a Buy rating with a $126 target, while BMO Capital Markets kept an Outperform rating with the same target.

Baird and Wolfe Research likewise maintained Outperform ratings, although their targets were lowered to $120 and $115, respectively.

Those targets suggest analysts still see potential upside from Walmart's depressed post-earnings price. The reductions, however, also indicate that expectations for near-term sales growth have become more cautious.

The key question for investors is whether Walmart can translate its strong e-commerce and delivery growth into broader sales momentum. The company's digital businesses remain important strengths, but weaker comparable-store growth could make it harder to justify the stock's previous valuation. Near-term checkpoints include Walmart's next earnings report, covering the quarter ending October 31 and typically released in November, along with early adoption of the tap-to-pay rollout as it works toward its end-of-2026 and mid-2027 targets.

Source: CoinCentral