Walmart (NASDAQ: WMT) has given investors a pair of fresh growth signals this week, expanding its Sam’s Club footprint in China while simultaneously rolling out one-hour delivery across more than 600 US locations, moves that put both Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) on notice as the retail giant fights for dominance on two fronts simultaneously.

Shares have been trading around $126 to $129, with the stock sitting approximately 6% below its all-time high of $134.69 reached in February 2026. The market capitalisation has remained stubbornly above $1 trillion, making Walmart one of a very small number of non-technology companies to hold that distinction in the current environment.

The China expansion story is meaningful. Sam’s Club is set to open at least two new warehouse locations in Shandong province in May, with a second Liaoning site currently under construction. The Jinan club, which began signing up members in January, launched one-hour delivery via cloud warehouses in late February and has been building momentum since. Chinese retail sales rose 2.4% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, and Beijing has made stimulating domestic consumer demand its primary economic policy target for the year, creating a tailwind that Walmart is clearly trying to capture before competitors establish deeper footholds.

The underlying numbers from China make the investment case clear. Walmart China posted net sales of $6.1 billion in the fourth quarter, a 19.3% jump from the same period a year earlier. Online sales within China climbed 28% and now account for more than half of the company’s total Chinese revenue, a milestone that marks a structural rather than cyclical shift in how Chinese consumers interact with the Sam’s Club brand.

At home in the United States, Sam’s Club has launched what it calls Express Delivery, a service that promises one-hour fulfilment to members. Since going live on April 2, the service has handled close to 65,000 orders across more than 600 locations, an early adoption rate that suggests genuine demand rather than novelty. Walmart has spent years expanding its back-room warehousing capabilities within existing stores, and the Express Delivery rollout is the clearest evidence yet that those logistics investments are producing usable commercial infrastructure rather than just cost savings.

Walmart’s fiscal 2026 full-year results showed revenue of $713.16 billion, up 4.73% year-on-year, with earnings of $21.89 billion, an increase of 12.64%. The Q4 quarter specifically delivered 5.6% revenue growth, led by higher transaction volumes, cooling grocery inflation, and record digital penetration across the US business.

The company also plans to remodel more than 650 stores across the United States and open approximately 20 new locations in 2026 and early 2027, a capital expenditure commitment that reflects confidence in the physical retail model at a time when many peers have been pulling back from bricks and mortar.

Beyond the core retail business, Walmart has been quietly expanding into higher-margin territory. Its Walmart Connect retail media network is scaling toward contributing a meaningful share of total operating income by 2027. The Vizio acquisition has accelerated the advertising technology play by adding connected TV data to Walmart’s first-party data pool. The company is also training all 2.1 million employees in artificial intelligence skills through internal certifications, a workforce investment that signals the company is serious about embedding AI at the operational level rather than confining it to a technology team.

The next earnings report is scheduled for May 21, with analysts projecting EPS of approximately $0.66 and revenue of around $174.49 billion for Q1. The Wall Street consensus sits at Strong Buy across 29 analysts, with an average 12-month price target of $133.86.

For a company trading at a forward earnings multiple that reflects its defensive quality and dividend consistency, WMT’s combination of US operational momentum and international growth execution is doing exactly what long-term shareholders want to see.

The post Walmart (NASDAQ: WMT) Doubles Down on China, One-Hour Delivery as Stock Hovers Near $1 Trillion Market Cap appeared first on Gooner Daily.