Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) shares are up 2.6% to trade at $117.50, at last check, powered by two recent developments shedding light on its tech-driven transformation.
Walmart announced its partnership with Alphabet's Google to revamp the Gemini app with shopping features directly tied to Walmart, and other big retailers, products. To underscore the retail behemoth’s tech-focus, the company will be added to the Nasdaq-100 (NDX) on Jan. 20, replacing AstraZeneca (AZN).
Walmart stock had recently pulled back from record territory in late-December and was struggling to break past $116. However, today WMT tapped an all time high of $117.50 and now boasts a 25% gain year-over-year.
So far, 70,000 calls and 19,000 puts have already traded hands -- volume that's double the average intraday amount. The most popular contract by far is the January 2026 118-strike call.
WMT's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 27% stands higher than just 5% of all other readings from the past year, implying that near-term option traders are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations.
