Walmart was the first retailer to surpass $500 billion in annual revenue.
Walmart reached more than $500 billion in annual revenue in fiscal 2018, reporting approximately $500.3 billion. The milestone reflected the scale of its stores, e-commerce operations, wholesale activities, and international businesses.
Sam Walton founded the first Walmart store in Rogers, Arkansas, in 1962. The company built its retail model around low prices, large-volume purchasing, efficient distribution, and locations serving both urban and rural markets. It later became the world’s largest company by revenue in several Fortune Global 500 rankings.
Revenue is different from market capitalization. Revenue measures sales during a reporting period, while market capitalization measures the stock market value of a company’s outstanding shares. Walmart’s huge sales base does not automatically make it the world’s most valuable company by market cap.