The battle between commerce giants Amazon (AMZN) and Walmart (WMT) has gotten tighter in the last several years. In 2024 and 2025, Walmart closed the gap between itself and Amazon, especially in the e-commerce department. As a result, WMT stock has outperformed Amazon’s in the past year by nearly 30% growth.
In 2026, the tide may be turning back in Amazon’s favor. While the e-commerce market remains competitive, Amazon has one key strength over Walmart: Artificial Intelligence. The tech sector is the least-performing sector in 2026, while the energy industry is experiencing a boom. Big tech stocks like Amazon, NVDA, and Meta are the hardest hit because investors are seeking short-term financial transparency over long-term AI objectives. However, it remains promising, and Amazon has been one of the biggest AI winners in the last year.
Amazon stock is currently experiencing a bearish outlook, as the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report projected a staggering $200B AI spending segment. The firm shared how it expects its capital expenditures to continue surging as it heavily pivots towards data centers and infrastructure to cater to its rising AI demand. “With such strong demand for our existing offerings and seminal opportunities like AI, chips, robotics, and low-earth orbit satellites, we expect to invest about $200 billion in capital expenditures across Amazon in 2026 and anticipate strong long-term return on invested capital,” CEO Andy Jassy said in a statement.
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On the other hand, Walmart’s latest earnings report sparked bullish expectations for WMT stock. For fiscal year 2026, Walmart posted results slightly above estimates. Revenue came in at $715.9 billion and, not including currency exchange rates, was in line with estimates at $713.2 billion compared to Wall Street’s forecast of $713 billion. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $2.64, which was $0.01 higher than expected.
Amazon has become the world’s largest company by revenue, marking a shift from traditional retail to digital commerce and cloud services. The e-commerce giant’s 2025 sales of $717 billion edged past Walmart’s $713.2 billion for the year ending Jan. 31. Amazon’s growth has far outpaced Walmart over the past decade, driven by online shopping and its Amazon Web Services (AWS) division. Therefore, its continued dominance in e-commerce and recent success in AI/cloud computing could make Amazon (AMZN) the best out of the magnificent-7 stock grouping in 2026, let alone over Walmart (WMT).
