Walmart sold 6.8 times as much as Target in their fiscal years to 31 Jan 2026: $713.2B of revenue against Target’s $104.8B. Walmart grew 4.7%; Target’s net sales fell 1.7%, with comparable sales down 2.6%. Target keeps a slightly wider operating margin (4.9% vs 4.2%). Walmart runs 10,955 retail units in 19 countries with about 2.1 million associates; Target runs 1,995 U.S. stores with about 415,000 team members.
Correction (11 Oct 2026): an earlier version said “Walmart had 10,500 employees globally, compared to 11,400 employees in 2021” and that Walmart operates “over 11,000 stores in 28 countries”. Those were store counts, not employees, and they were out of date: Walmart’s fiscal 2026 10-K reports about 2.1 million associates and 10,955 retail units in 19 countries (10-K).
How we source: figures on this page come from the company’s own filings (SEC 10-K, 10-Q and earnings releases, or its annual report), with the period stated next to each number. Last refreshed October 2026. Our methodology.
Twice the sales per store: why Walmart outruns Target. Source: Walmart Form 10-K, fiscal 2026, and Target Form 10-K, fiscal 2025 (both years to 31 Jan 2026), SEC EDGAR: incomestatements, Item 2 properties (stores, square feet), Walmart U.S. net sales by merchandise category, comparable sales, Target traffic; earlier years from SEC XBRL company facts. Per-store, per-square-foot and margin figures calculated. Areas and bars to scale. Analysis by The Business Engineer.
Target’s net sales jumped from $78.1B in the year to February 2020 to a peak of $109.1B in the year to January 2023. They have fallen every year since, to $104.8B (Target 10-K). Walmart’s revenue rose in each of those years, from $524.0B to $713.2B (Walmart 10-K).
Target's pandemic surge has stalled; Walmart kept compounding. Source: Walmart and Target Form 10-K filings via SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts. Indices calculated. Analysis by The Business Engineer.
What drives the difference
Scale and reach. Walmart U.S. alone sold $483.0B in fiscal 2026, 4.6× Target’s total. Per store, Walmart U.S. sold about $105M against Target’s $53M (calculated; both include online orders the stores fulfil).
Traffic. Target’s comparable sales fell 2.6% in fiscal 2025, driven by a 2.2% fall in traffic (10-K). Walmart U.S. comparable sales rose 2.6% in Q2 fiscal 2027 (Walmart Q2 FY27 release).
Margin. Target still converts more of each sales dollar into operating income (4.9% vs 4.2%), but its operating income fell from $5.6B to $5.1B, and it peaked at $8.9B in the year to January 2022. Walmart’s rose to $29.8B.
What to watch
Target’s traffic. Whether comparable sales return to growth after a -2.6% year.
Investment gap. Walmart spent $26.6B on capital projects in fiscal 2026, 7.1× Target’s $3.7B (calculated from the 10-Ks).
Walmart’s digital lines. In Q2 fiscal 2027 Walmart’s eCommerce grew 23% and advertising 38% (release).
Earlier analysis and background (pre-2026 figures)
The text below is the earlier version of this page. Its figures refer to earlier periods and some were corrected above; the current, sourced figures are in the sections above.
In 2022, Target generated over $109 billion in revenue, mostly from its stores, compared to $572.7 billion form Walmart, coming from stores, e-commerce and Sam’s Club.
Business Model Element · Target · Walmart · Similarities · Differences · Competitive Advantage
Customer Segments
Target: Families, millennials, urban and suburban
Walmart: Families, value-conscious shoppers, rural areas
Similarities: Both target families and offer a range of products. Target has a presence in urban and suburban areas. Walmart caters to value-conscious shoppers and is often located in rural areas.
Differences: Target’s focus on urban and suburban locations. Walmart’s strong presence in rural areas.
Competitive Advantage: Urban and Suburban Presence (Target), Rural Presence (Walmart).
Similarities: Both offer convenience and a variety of products. Target emphasizes style, quality, and a curated shopping experience. Walmart is known for low prices and one-stop shopping.
Differences: Target’s emphasis on style, quality, and curated shopping. Walmart’s focus on unbeatable low prices and offering a wide range of products under one roof.
Competitive Advantage: Style and Quality (Target), Low Prices and One-Stop Shopping (Walmart).
Channels
Target: Physical stores, e-commerce
Walmart: Physical stores, e-commerce
Similarities: Both have a presence in physical stores and e-commerce.
Differences: Target’s approach to physical store design and aesthetics. Walmart’s focus on large-format stores and distribution centers.
Competitive Advantage: Store Design and Aesthetics (Target), Large-Format Stores (Walmart).
Customer Relationships
Target: Loyalty programs, customer experience
Walmart: Price competitiveness, convenience
Similarities: Both build customer relationships through loyalty programs and a focus on customer experience. Target emphasizes these aspects. Walmart’s relationships often revolve around price competitiveness and convenience.
Differences: Target’s approach to loyalty programs and enhancing customer experience. Walmart’s strong emphasis on offering the lowest prices and convenience to its customers.
Competitive Advantage: Loyalty Programs and Customer Experience (Target), Price Competitiveness and Convenience (Walmart).
Similarities: Both engage in merchandise curation. Target offers private label products. Walmart focuses on efficient procurement and supply chain management.
Differences: Target’s efforts in merchandise curation and offering exclusive private label products. Walmart’s emphasis on procurement efficiency and supply chain management for cost savings.
Competitive Advantage: Merchandise Curation and Private Labels (Target), Procurement and Supply Chain Efficiency (Walmart).
Similarities: Both rely on brand reputation. Target has a portfolio of private label brands. Walmart’s key resources are its extensive supply chain and distributionnetwork.
Differences: Target’s strong brand reputation and investment in private label brands. Walmart’s robust supply chain and an extensive network of distribution centers and stores.
Competitive Advantage: Brand Reputation and Private Labels (Target), Supply Chain and Distribution Network (Walmart).
Key Partnerships
Target: Fashion designers, exclusive partnerships
Walmart: Supplier relationships, manufacturers
Similarities: Both have partnerships with suppliers and manufacturers. Target collaborates with fashion designers and offers exclusive partnerships. Walmart maintains strong supplier relationships.
Differences: Target’s focus on fashion designers and exclusive partnerships. Walmart’s strong supplier relationships and focus on direct procurement.
Similarities: Both generate revenue from retail sales and e-commerce.
Differences: Target’s emphasis on style and curated products. Walmart’s focus on price competitiveness and a wide range of products.
Competitive Advantage: Style and Curation (Target), Price Competitiveness and Variety (Walmart).
Cost Structure
Target: Marketing, store maintenance
Walmart: Procurement, logistics, store maintenance
Similarities: Both incur costs related to marketing and store maintenance. Target’s costs include marketing for style and curation. Walmart focuses on procurement and logistics efficiency.
Differences: Target’s marketing costs for style and curation. Walmart’s emphasis on cost-efficient procurement and logistics to maintain low prices.
Competitive Advantage: Marketing for Style (Target), Efficient Procurement (Walmart).
Target generated over $109 billion in revenue and $2.78 billion in profits in 2022, compared to $106 billion in revenue and almost $7 billion in profits in 2021.
In 2022, Target generated $104.6 billion in revenue, with nearly $85 billion coming from stores and $19.7 billion from digital, compared to $92.4 billion in 2021, of which $75.8 billion from stores and $16.6 billion from digital.
Target generated most of its sales from its stores in 2022. Indeed stores’ sales represented over 81% of the total sales, while digital represented 18.6%. Yet, digital sales have grown from 8.8% of the pre-pandemic total to 18.6% by 2022.
In 2022, a good chunk of the product category sold was Beauty & Household Essentials, which represented 26% of the total revenue, followed by Food & Beverage with 20%, Home Furnishings & Décor 19%, Hardlines 18%, and Apparel & Accessories 17%.
With over $572 billion in net sales in 2022, Walmart operates a differentiated Omni business model with three primary units comprising Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam’s Club (a membership-only warehouse club), together with Walmart+. This subscription service includes unlimited free shipping, unlimited delivery from its stores, and discounts launched in 2021.
Walmart generated over $572 billion in revenue in 2022 and over $13.6 billion in net profits in the same year. Compared to over $559 billion in revenue in 2021 and over $13.5 billion in net profits.
Walmart’smission can be summarized as “helping people around the world save money and live better – anytime and anywhere – in retail stores and through eCommerce.” While its vision is to “make every day easier for busy families.” Walmart defines “busy families” as the bull’s eye of its business strategy.
Walmart has a hybrid hierarchical-functional organizational structure, otherwise referred to as a matrix structure that combines multiple approaches. On the one hand, Walmart follows a hierarchical structure, where the current CEO Doug McMillon is the only employee without a direct superior, and directives are sent from top-level management. On the other hand, the function-based structure of Walmart is used to categorize employees according to their particular skills and experience.
From humble beginnings just over 50 years ago, Walmart has become the world’s largest retail company. A single small discount store in Arkansas has now expanded to over 11,000 stores in 28 countries. Some reports suggest that the company makes $1.8 million of profit every hour.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
