Amazon surpasses Walmart in sales

Amazon has overtaken Walmart as America’s largest company by annual revenue, ending the latter’s 23-year reign. 

Amazon reported $716.9 billion in revenue for its latest fiscal year, narrowly topping Walmart’s $713.2 billion for the year ended January 31. Walmart had held the No. 1 spot since 2001, when it surpassed Exxon Mobil.

Amazon’s momentum made the difference. Sales jumped 12.4% last year, compared with Walmart’s 4.7% growth. 

Founded 31 years ago as an online bookstore, Amazon now spans cloud computing, artificial intelligence, advertising, and entertainment. It is investing $4 billion to build same-day delivery hubs in rural America and has expanded same-day grocery service to more than 2,300 towns.

As of last fall, Amazon captured about 9% of total US retail spending, up from roughly 6% before the pandemic. Walmart accounts for about 7.6%.

Inside Walmart, leaders had prepared for the shift. The retailer now emphasizes becoming “America’s favorite place to shop.”

It has expanded same-day delivery to 95% of US households, and 72% of those households report shopping for groceries on Amazon each month.

Both companies now invest heavily in artificial intelligence, betting it will reshape shopping, operations, and future revenue growth.