Walmart ratings affirmed by Fitch with stable outlook

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Walmart ratings affirmed by Fitch

Highlights

Walmart's Long-Term Issuer Default Rating is affirmed at 'AA' and Short-Term IDR at 'F1+' by Fitch Ratings with a stable outlook.
Fitch projects Walmart's annual free cash flow to average over $4 billion after $30 billion in capital spending and $8 billion in dividends.
Walmart generated $713 billion in revenue for 2025, including $150 billion from e-commerce and $93 billion from Sam's Club, supported by strong liquidity.

Credit profile backed by scale and cash flow

As reported by Fitch Ratings, the agency affirms all of Walmart's ratings, including its Long-Term Issuer Default Rating at 'AA' and Short-Term IDR at 'F1+', while maintaining a stable outlook.

Fitch says Walmart's credit strength reflects its dominant global retail position, broad sales mix and consistent financial strategy. The agency says the company continues to post positive comparable store sales, gain market share and hold EBITDAR leverage at or below 2x.

Fitch projects long-term organic annual revenue growth of around 3%, with corresponding EBITDA growth. It also expects internally generated cash flow to remain substantial, with annual free cash flow averaging more than $4 billion after about $30 billion in annual capital spending and $8 billion in dividends.

Retail pressures and investment support outlook

Fitch says the U.S. retail sector faces near-term challenges from volatile consumer sentiment, tariff-related cost pressures and geopolitical conflicts. Even so, the agency expects Walmart to manage that volatility better than most peers because of its heavy exposure to groceries and other staples.

The report highlights Walmart's omnichannel model, technology spending and infrastructure upgrades as key supports for future performance. Fitch says investments in store remodels, AI, automation, data analytics and pickup operations should improve customer service, inventory management and supply chain efficiency over time.

Beyond its core U.S. discount and supercenter operations, Walmart also benefits from growth in Sam's Club and its international business. Fitch notes the company generated $713 billion in revenue in 2025, including $150 billion from e-commerce, $93 billion from Sam's Club and $130 billion internationally, while maintaining strong liquidity backed in part by a commercial paper program and $15 billion in revolvers.

Our earlier article on Fitch’s presale review of the Greystar 2026-FL1 multifamily CRE CLO detailed the agency’s expected ratings across the capital stack, with Stable Outlooks on all rated classes. We noted key portfolio metrics such as a high Fitch loan-to-value ratio and comparatively low debt yield versus recent CRE CLO averages, alongside structural protections and stress-test results showing modeled defaults stayed within available credit enhancement.

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