Deep Dive: Amazon Dethrones Walmart as the World's Largest Company by Revenue — What It Means for Investors and the Future of Retail
For decades, Walmart held an unchallenged claim to the title of the world's largest company by annual revenue. That era ended this week. Amazon's full-year 2025 revenue of $716.9 billion officially surpassed Walmart's $713.2 billion for its fiscal year ending January 31, 2026 — a symbolic but seismic milestone that reshapes the hierarchy of global commerce. The dethroning was not sudden. Amazon first overtook Walmart in quarterly revenue about a year ago, and the annual crossover had been anticipated for months. But the confirmation, arriving just as Walmart reported otherwise strong fourth-quarter results on Thursday, crystallizes a broader truth: the center of gravity in retail has shifted decisively toward digital platforms, cloud computing, and AI-powered commerce. For investors parsing the two stocks — Amazon trading at $209.44 with a $2.25 trillion market cap, and Walmart at $122.07 with a $973 billion valuation — the question is no longer who is bigger, but which company is better positioned for the next chapter. The milestone also arrives at a pivotal moment for both companies. Amazon is pouring up to $200 billion into AI infrastructure in 2026, while Walmart is navigating a CEO transition and a cautious earnings outlook that spooked Wall Street. The revenue crown may be symbolic, but the strategic divergence underneath it is anything but.