🧭 Introduction: why this topic matters
A growing number of consumers start their product search not on Google or in a store app, but in a conversation with artificial intelligence (AI). Ask ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini where to buy a TV or everyday goods at the lowest price, and you get one or a few specific suggestions. More and more, the decision of where to shop is made inside the chat itself: the retailer the AI names wins the shopper’s attention, while the rest may never make it onto their radar.
For investors this raises an additional question: which companies appear most often in AI answers, and can that become a competitive advantage? In this research we ran our own AI shopping test, then take a closer look at one of the clearest winners – Walmart: its latest financial results and analyst price forecasts.
What we can learn: which retailers AI platforms recommend most often, what drives their choices, and how Walmart’s business model is shifting from a traditional store operator toward a more profitable digital ecosystem.
🌍 Part 1. Who wins in AI search? Our test
More and more shoppers ask AI chatbots where to buy, and often get just one or two specific suggestions. To see which retailers make it into those answers, we ran a small test of our own.
📋 How we ran the test
- On 5 October 2026 we gave three of the most popular AI platforms – ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini – the same question covering five everyday shopping situations in the U.S.
- Categories: weekly groceries for a family, a cheap kids’ bike, diapers and baby formula, a budget air fryer and pet food.
- For each one we asked for one first-choice store and one alternative.
📊 Results
| Question | ChatGPT | Claude | Gemini |
| Groceries | ALDI (alt. Walmart) | ALDI (alt. Walmart) | ALDI (alt. Walmart) |
| Kids’ bike | Walmart (alt. Target) | Walmart (alt. Facebook Marketplace) | Walmart (alt. Target) |
| Diapers & formula | Walmart (alt. Amazon) | Costco (alt. Walmart) | Costco* (alt. Walmart) |
| Air fryer | Walmart (alt. Target) | Walmart (alt. Amazon) | Walmart (alt. Amazon) |
| Pet food | Walmart (alt. Chewy) | Chewy (alt. Costco) | Chewy (alt. Costco) |
| Retailer | First pick (of 15) | Total mentions (of 30) |
| Walmart | 8 | 13 |
| Costco | 2 | 4 |
| ALDI | 3 | 3 |
| Chewy | 2 | 3 |
| Target | 0 | 3 |
🔍 What the test showed
- Walmart is the clear leader. It was the first pick in 8 of 15 answers – more than all others combined – and was mentioned 13 times out of 30. All three platforms chose it for a cheap kids’ bike and an air fryer, and ChatGPT’s own conclusion called Walmart the best all-around budget retailer.
- ALDI wins groceries – all three platforms picked it first, with Walmart as the alternative.
- Specialists win their niches. Claude and Gemini both recommended Chewy first for pet food, and Costco for baby products because of its private label.
Our takeaway: at least today, AI recommendations lean toward large, well-known retailers with a clear price advantage – and Walmart is among the winners. This is a small test, so we treat it as a direction rather than a statistically robust result.
🤖 Walmart is investing in AI itself
- In June 2025 Walmart launched its own AI shopping assistant, Sparky, and in March 2026 integrated it with the ChatGPT platform.
- About half of Walmart app users have already used Sparky, and weekly active users more than doubled quarter-over-quarter.
- According to the company, shoppers who use Sparky spend about 35% more than other app users.
📈 Part 2. Walmart – key financial results
On 20 August 2026 Walmart reported second-quarter results for fiscal 2027 (quarter ended July 2026). The company beat earnings expectations and raised its full-year outlook.
📋 Q2 results
| Metric | Result |
| Total revenue | $187.9bn (+5.9%) |
| Adjusted EPS | $0.81 |
| Operating income (adjusted, constant currency) | +17.4% |
| Walmart US comparable sales (ex fuel) | +2.6% |
| E-commerce U.S. / global | +24% / +23% |
| Advertising revenue (global) | +38% |
| Membership fee income | +17% |
| Sam’s Club comparable sales (ex fuel) | +4.4% |
🔍 Key insights
- Digital businesses are growing fast. E-commerce, advertising and memberships are growing much faster than traditional store sales – Walmart is increasingly becoming a platform with multiple revenue streams.
- The core U.S. business is slowing. U.S. comparable sales growth slowed to 2.6% – the main source of investor concern.
- Margins are improving. Gross margin rose thanks to a growing share of higher-margin businesses – advertising and memberships.
🧮 Updated fiscal 2027 guidance (company)
| Metric | New guidance | Previous guidance |
| Sales growth | 4.0–5.0% | 3.5–4.5% |
| Adj. operating income growth | 7.0–8.5% | 6.0–8.0% |
| Adjusted EPS | $2.80–2.87 | $2.75–2.85 |
| Q3 adjusted EPS | $0.62–0.64 | – |
⚠️ Risks
- Slowing growth in the core U.S. store business.
- The one-off tariff refund benefit will not repeat next year.
- Pressure on lower-income consumers and rising operating costs.
- A high share valuation compared with historical averages.
💰 Part 3. Walmart summary and analyst price forecasts
Walmart shares traded at $104.26 on 2 October 2026. According to TradingView, 40 analysts provide 12-month price forecasts.
| Scenario | 12-month price target (USD) | Change vs $104.26 |
| Lowest analyst target | 110.00 | +5.51% |
| Average analyst target | 128.45 | +23.20% |
| Highest analyst target | 155.00 | +48.67% |
Bottom line: Walmart is one of the winners of the AI shopping era – thanks both to its strong brand and clear value proposition and to its own investments in AI tools. Its digital businesses are growing fast, and analyst consensus points to upside. However, slowing store sales and a high valuation mean that disappointing results could pressure the share price.
📌 Summary
AI is gradually becoming a new shopping channel, and for now it rewards those who already lead – large, well-known retailers with a clear value proposition. Walmart looks well positioned in this environment: its digital businesses are growing fast, the company is investing in its own AI shopping tools, and analyst forecasts point to upside, although the risks – slowing sales and a high valuation – should not be ignored.
A big thank you for reading our market research! Please remember: before making any financial decision, gather as much information as you can from different sources and consider your own goals and risk tolerance.
⚠️ Disclaimer: this market research is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation or an offer to buy or sell any financial instruments. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Before making any investment decision, please consult your financial representative.