Is Walmart now a tech company? Stock surges after AI moves, Nasdaq-100 inclusion.

By Tomi Kilgore

Walmart's stock rallies into record territory, after the retailer teams with Google's Gemini to help drive customers to its products

Walmart's focus on technology to drive sales has helped lift its stock to record territory, a month after the company switched its stock-market listing to the Nasdaq. Outgoing Walmart CEO Doug McMillon shared a laugh with Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman at a Dec. 9 opening-bell ceremony.

Shares of Walmart surged into record territory Monday as the retail behemoth's latest moves highlight its focus on technology to drive sales.

Walmart (WMT) and Alphabet's (GOOGL) (GOOG) Google announced over the weekend that they were teaming up to launch a new shopping experience that will use artificial intelligence through Google's Gemini to help drive customers to products sold at Walmart's stores.

The announcement came about a month after Walmart moved the listing of its stock to the Nasdaq exchange from the New York Stock Exchange, a move that the retailer said aligned with its "tech-powered approach" to its retail strategy.

The stock climbed 3.4% in recent midday trading, putting it on track to end the day above the Dec. 15 record close price of $116.79. The rally was boosting Walmart's market capitalization to $944.2 billion, which makes Walmart the 11th most valuable U.S. company.

With Walmart's latest AI move, Gemini's answers to questions for assistance or advice will include products sold at its stores, as part of the new Universal Commerce Protocol, an open standard for AI agent-led commerce that Walmart said it built.

An example Walmart provided in how the collaboration would work was if Gemini is asked for advice on camping equipment, it will show items from Walmart and provide access to purchase the items.

Walmart's AI push makes sense. A report earlier this month from Salesforce (CRM) said shoppers referred to e-commerce sites from AI agents converted into actual sales nine times more often than those referred from social media.

"The transition from traditional web or app search to agent-led commerce represents the next great evolution in retail," said John Furner, Walmart's incoming CEO. "We aren't just watching the shift, we are driving it."

Late Friday, the Nasdaq said it would add Walmart's stock to the Nasdaq-100 Index NDX as of Jan. 20.

While Nasdaq said the index is made up of 100 of the largest nonfinancial companies, it is often referred to as the "tech-heavy" Nasdaq-100, given that the current top 11 weighted components - more than 70% of the total weighting - are technology companies.

Walmart's stock will replace drugmaker AstraZeneca's (AZN) in the Nasdaq-100. AstraZeneca was the 16th-highest-weighted Nasdaq-100 component, with a market cap of $291.9 billion.

-Tomi Kilgore

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01-12-26 1247ET