Walmart falls 0.7% after the company expands employee drug benefits for 2027

What happened

Walmart (WMT) fell 0.7% to $112.28 on October 13, 2026, after the company said it would expand employee health benefits for 2027 to provide no-cost coverage for more than 250 prescription drugs. The company said the benefit changes will include some insulin, inhalers and certain GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic and Mounjaro and are aimed at attracting and retaining its 1.6 million US workers, according to CNBC and Business Insider. Several outlets also discussed how artificial intelligence chatbots and digital assistants could affect retail discovery, often naming Walmart as a common recommendation for shopping-related AI queries, according to Benzinga and The Motley Fool.

How big was the move

The stock fell 0.7% on the day to close at $112.28, a change that was 0.4 times a typical daily move for this stock and thus an ordinary session. Trading volume was 0.8 times its 20-day average while the S&P 500 on the day was unchanged and the Consumer Defensive sector median on the day fell 0.1%. Over the last five sessions the stock rose 4.7%, compared with the S&P 500 over five sessions which fell 0.2%.

The technical picture

The stock traded 3.9% above its 20-day moving average and 3.4% above its 50-day moving average, while it remained 5.0% below its 200-day moving average. The 50-day average is below the 200-day average, a sign of a weak longer-term trend.

The stock is 16.9% below its 52-week high and its Relative Strength Index (14 days) is 62, in a neutral range between 30 and 70. Volatility was 29% annualized over 60 days, higher than 85% of its own readings over five years, suggesting larger-than-normal swings compared with the company’s recent history.

Fundamentals and valuation

For the four quarters through July 31, 2026, revenue was $735.84 billion, which grew 6.2% from a year earlier and showed growth of 5.9% one quarter earlier. Diluted earnings per share were $2.77, and earnings per share growth from a year earlier rose 4.1%. Gross margin was 25.2% (a year earlier: 24.9%) and operating margin was 4.4% (a year earlier: 4.2%).

Free-cash-flow margin was 1.8% and return on invested capital was 12.7%; the balance sheet showed net debt of 1.5 times EBITDA and share count over one year decreased by 0.5%.

Walmart’s price to trailing earnings is 40.5 times trailing earnings and its price to forward earnings is 38.9 times expected earnings. Its free-cash-flow yield is 1.5%. The price to trailing earnings is higher than 71% of its own readings over the past five years (five-year median: 36.5 times earnings). PromtFinance scores rank Value 18 (Very weak), Growth 56 (Neutral), Quality 65 (Positive), Momentum 60 (Neutral), Revisions 62 (Neutral) and Stability 70 (Positive), painting a mixed profile: above-average quality and stability but limited value on conventional metrics.

Earnings and analyst expectations

Walmart’s next report is due November 19, 2026. The last report, on August 20, 2026, delivered earnings per share of $0.81 against $0.74 expected, 9.2% above estimates. That marked four consecutive quarters beating estimates, with the average surprise over the last four reports 3.6% above estimates. The stock’s typical two-day reaction after recent reports was fell 2.5%.

Analysts have a consensus price target of $128.84, which is 14.7% above the closing price, based on 66 analysts with a rating. Seventy-one percent of those analysts rate the stock Buy and the consensus rating is Buy.

What to watch

• November 19, 2026: next earnings report date
• Promised 2027 benefit expansion: no-cost coverage for more than 250 prescription drugs for US employees
• Valuation: 40.5 times trailing earnings and 38.9 times expected earnings
• Share count over one year: decreased by 0.5%
• Market sensitivity: beta of 0.56 (the stock tends to move less than the market)