Walmart's Next-Gen Stores Highlight Its Long-Term Retail Vision

Walmart Inc.’s WMT newly opened next-generation Supercenter in Jacksonville, FL, offers a clear view of how the retailer is evolving its store base as part of its broader long-term growth strategy. Located in the growing Oakleaf community, the store reflects Walmart’s focus on combining digital convenience with an enhanced in-store experience.

The Jacksonville opening follows recent Supercenter and Neighborhood Market launches elsewhere in Florida and fits within Walmart’s plan to build or convert more than 150 stores over the next several years. Management has consistently said that physical stores remain central to Walmart’s model, particularly for supporting pickup and delivery while keeping operations efficient. The new store’s ability to offer delivery in as little as one hour, including prescriptions, reflects that approach.

Inside the store, Walmart is emphasizing a more open layout, expanded assortments in categories such as apparel and home and digital touchpoints designed to make shopping more efficient. These updates mirror WMT’s broader focus on improving store execution and customer experiences to drive traffic and market share gains across Walmart U.S.

Beyond the customer experience, the Jacksonville Supercenter adds approximately 400 jobs to the local economy. Walmart continues to position new and remodeled stores as sources of employment and community investment, offering benefits such as education programs, flexible scheduling, and competitive time-off policies to support associate retention and service quality.

Overall, the Jacksonville Supercenter illustrates Walmart’s continued emphasis on an omnichannel retail model. By modernizing stores to serve both as shopping destinations and fulfillment nodes, the company is reinforcing the role of its physical footprint within its broader retail and logistics strategy.

What the Latest Metrics Say About Walmart

Walmart, which competes with Costco Wholesale Corporation COST and Target Corporation TGT, has seen its shares rally 25.8% in the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 26.9%. Shares of Costco and Target have declined 5.8% and 12.9%, respectively, in the aforementioned period.

From a valuation standpoint, Walmart's forward 12-month price-to-earnings ratio stands at 43.73, higher than the industry’s 40.4. The company is trading at a premium to Target (with a forward 12-month P/E ratio of 14.87) while trading at a discount to Costco (47.48). 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Walmart’s current fiscal-year sales and earnings per share implies year-over-year growth of 4.6% and 4.8%, respectively. The consensus mark for the next fiscal-year sales and EPS suggests year-over-year growth of 4.5% and 11.7%, respectively.

Walmart currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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