Walmart stock hits new all-time high today: 3 key reasons behind Monday's surge

Core Viewpoint - Walmart's stock has reached an all-time high of $117.48, driven by both mechanical index-related buying and increasing investor confidence in the company's transformation [1][2] Group 1: Stock Performance and Market Impact - The stock gained approximately 3.6% in premarket trading, extending its 2025 rally to nearly 26%, pushing the company's market value toward $940 billion [1] - Walmart will join the Nasdaq-100 Index effective January 20, 2026, replacing AstraZeneca, which is expected to trigger automatic buying from passive index funds, potentially bringing in up to $19 billion in new passive inflows [3][4] Group 2: Strategic Partnerships and Innovations - Walmart is partnering with Google to integrate its products into Google's Gemini AI chatbot, allowing customers to shop through AI conversations [6][7] - This partnership follows previous agreements with OpenAI's ChatGPT and builds on Walmart's ongoing AI integration efforts [8] Group 3: Advertising Growth and Financial Performance - Walmart's global advertising revenues surged 53% year-over-year in the third quarter, with the Walmart Connect platform growing 33% domestically [9] - The acquisition of Vizio is enhancing Walmart's advertising capabilities, allowing for a "closed-loop" advertising system with high-margin ad sales exceeding 70% gross margins [10] - Management raised full-year earnings guidance for the second consecutive quarter, indicating confidence in operational execution [11]