By Kit Norton
Shares of Walmart were rising on Monday, with the retailer's market capitalization briefly surpassing that of Berkshire Hathaway's early in the session. It could conceivably return to that level by today's close.
Walmart stock was up 0.6% to $128.31 midday Monday, making its current market cap around $1.02 trillion, compared to Berkshire Hathaway's $1.023 trillion. That puts Walmart at about $3 billion below Berkshire Hathaway, which is the ninth largest company in the U.S.
The total market cap of Berkshire Hathaway includes both Class B and Class A shares, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Market capitalization is the total dollar market value of a company's outstanding shares, representing its overall size and worth. It is calculated by multiplying a company's total outstanding shares by their current price.
The last time Walmart was the ninth largest U.S. company by market cap was on January 4, 2021. If Walmart's market cap moves above Berkshire Hathaway's, it will be the first time since April 18, 2013, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
A year ago, Walmart's market cap was well below Berkshire Hathaway's. However, Walmart stock is up 15% so far this year, which has catapulted its market cap up from $887.956 billion at the start of 2026, moving it closer to Berkshire Hathaway.
Last week, Walmart said it is making significant investment in its stores across the U.S., with plans to remodel 650 locations and open 20 new locations through early 2027.
Earlier this month, Erste Group analysts upgraded Walmart to a Buy rating from Hold on expectations that Walmart will exceed its own sales growth and operating profit expectations in its current fiscal year.
In February, Walmart predicted fiscal 2027 earnings between $2.75 and $2.85 a share, compared to $2.64 a share in fiscal 2026. The company expects operating income of $32.96 billion to $33.58 billion, up from $31.1 billion in fiscal 2026.
Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares declined 0.2% to $473.39 a share, while Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares fell 0.2% to $709,849.69 on Monday.
Berkshire Hathaway will disclose overall equity sales and purchases around May 2 as part of its first-quarter 10-Q report, and it will detail its individual equity holdings around May 15 in its 13-F filing.
Write to Kit Norton at kit.norton@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 20, 2026 13:54 ET (17:54 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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