Walmart became a publicly traded company in 1970. On October 1 of that year, the company offered 300,000 common shares to the public at $16.50 per share.
The initial public offering gave Walmart access to capital for expansion while allowing outside investors to own part of the growing retailer. At the time, Walmart was still far smaller than the national chain it would become. Its first distribution center and home office opened in Bentonville, Arkansas, in 1971, helping support the company’s next stage of growth.
Walmart’s incorporation date is a nearby milestone but not the answer to this question: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. was incorporated in 1969. The company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972, after becoming publicly traded. Those distinctions explain why 1969 and 1972 can appear in accounts of Walmart’s financial history.
The public offering helped fund Walmart’s store expansion across the United States. By 1972, the company had 51 stores and recorded $78 million in sales, illustrating how quickly the business was scaling after the IPO.