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Four of the largest corporations in the United States just signaled that a particular shortage is about to intensify. BlackRock, Ford Motor Company, Google, and Carhartt announced a new coalition on July 21 called the Alliance for America’s Skilled Trades.  Three of the four founding companies have independently committed a combined $450 million to expand workforce training and fund apprenticeship pipelines across 30 states.Carhartt, the fourth member, contributes through its For the Love of Labor program, which has supported more than 60 nonprofit and community organizations focused on trades training since 2022.The announcement lands as the construction sector alone posted 298,000 open positions in May, up 32,000 from the prior month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The alliance’s founders say skilled trades represent some of the fastest-growing and highest-paying career pathways in the U.S. economy.Ford commits $300 million to skilled trades as the auto industry faces a technician droughtFord is the largest single contributor, with $300 million earmarked for skilled trades workforce development and what the automaker calls its Essential Economy initiative in 2026. The reason for that outsized commitment is visible in Ford’s own dealer network.The U.S. auto industry will need more than 350,000 new technicians by 2029, according to Ford, and CEO Jim Farley has said the automaker alone has roughly 5,000 unfilled dealership service positions with annual wages reaching $120,000 for experienced candidates.”At Ford, we recognize the skilled trades workforce shortage is a national crisis but also a generational opportunity,” Jim Farley said in the alliance announcement.The automaker separately co-invested $5 million with Bloomberg Philanthropies in June to modernize auto technician programs at two Detroit public schools, targeting 300 new technicians over three years.BlackRock and Google target infrastructure and data-center build-outsBlackRock’s contribution comes through its $100 million Future Builders program, launched in March 2026, which aims to connect 50,000 workers with training over five years. Google committed $50 million to prepare more than 300,000 workers across over 20 states for careers tied to energy and technology infrastructure. Both companies are pouring capital into physical infrastructure that requires enormous pools of trained electricians and HVAC technicians. More Google:Alphabet stock rally exposes Google’s unusual AI problemGoogle just took crown Verizon held for 22 yearsGoogle CEO says AI has changed revenue picture completelyElectrician employment alone is projected to expand 9% from 2024 to 2034, triple the national average for all occupations, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.”Building the physical infrastructure for America’s future requires significantly increasing the pipeline of skilled tradespeople across the country,” Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer of Alphabet and Google, said in the announcement.

BlackRock, Google, and Carhartt are investing millions to train skilled workers as demand for electricians and HVAC technicians accelerates nationwide.Bloomberg/Getty Images

The $1 trillion cost of 2.1 million unfilled trade jobs by 2030The labor shortage driving these investments carries a price tag far beyond the companies involved. An estimated 2.1 million skilled trades positions could go unfilled by 2030, according to a JLL research report published in April 2026, with the U.S. Department of Education projecting annual economic losses of up to $1 trillion.Courtney Brown, chief data and research officer at the Lumina Foundation, said bachelor’s programs remain prestigious but two-year schools are winning on cost.A four-year degree is still the gold standard…community colleges are doing really well with affordability and value…more people gravitate towards thatNearly 600,000 skilled trades jobs were posted last year, but only about 150,000 new workers entered through apprenticeship programs, the JLL report noted.Skilled trades wages sit above the median for all occupationsThe financial case for entering the trades has shifted over the past decade, with skilled-trades job postings growing three times faster than professional roles between 2022 and 2026, according to a Randstad USA analysis of more than 150 million U.S. job postings. Workers in infrastructure-related skilled trades earn above-average wages and frequently have access to employer-provided retirement savings and health care, the alliance’s press release noted.”It is encouraging that more project owners are recognizing the need for greater private as well as public investment in training prospective construction workers,” Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America, told Engineering News-Record. The median annual wage for construction and extraction occupations sits at approximately $58,360, compared with about $49,500 across all occupations, BLS occupational data showed. The top 10% of electricians earned more than $106,030 in May 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and industry salary surveys show specialized welders in pipeline, nuclear and aerospace work regularly exceed $100,000.The alliance plans a national report to track what training programs workThe coalition’s first initiative will be a Skilled Trades Report developed with Jobs for the Future and nonprofit research organization Burning Glass Institute, designed to measure workforce gaps and identify effective apprenticeship models as new partners join. The alliance follows a broader pattern of corporate workforce bets in 2026. Meta Platforms announced a $115 million craft-training partnership with Associated Builders and Contractors in June.Meta President Dina Powell McCormick said at an Axios event in March that artificial intelligence infrastructure growth could require about 500,000 electricians nationwide, Engineering News-Record reported.”Investment in America’s infrastructure will help shape the country’s long-term economic trajectory, but its success ultimately depends on the skilled workforce that brings these projects to life,” Bayo Ogunlesi, chairman and CEO of Global Infrastructure Partners, a unit of BlackRock, said in the announcement.The coalition did not disclose a unified enrollment target or detail how the founding members’ programs would be coordinated beyond the initial 30 states.Related: Bank of America doubles down on Google stock ahead of earnings

ServiceNow reported second-quarter results the evening of Wednesday, July 22, beating Wall Street’s expectations on revenue, margin, and bookings.The backdrop made that harder than it sounds. Investors had spent the prior week watching IBM and Pegasystems blame artificial intelligence spending shifts for wrecking their own software businesses, and the market was primed to punish any sign of the same weakness.IBM shares fell 25% on July 14, after warning that clients were shifting technology budgets toward AI infrastructure instead of software.Pegasystems followed on July 22, dropping more than 16% after missing revenue estimates and citing what it called unprecedented disruption from AI competition, according to Yahoo Finance.Traders had started calling it the “SaaSpocalypse,” Forbes noted, a bet that enterprise software growth was about to slow across the board.ServiceNow (NOW) avoided that fate. Subscription revenue reached $3.9 billion in the quarter, up 24.5% from a year earlier, a ServiceNow press release confirmed.Shares climbed 5.5% in premarket trading Thursday, July 23, to $100.67, according to Benzinga, as the same release disclosed that artificial intelligence contract value had crossed $1 billion, the number that dominated most of the day’s coverage.A different billion-dollar number tells ServiceNow’s real storyThat AI milestone was not the most consequential number on the call. ServiceNow’s security and risk business sells cybersecurity and compliance tools bolted onto its main workflow platform.It had already crossed $1 billion in annual contract value organically back in the third quarter of 2025, according to a ServiceNow press release, before two acquisitions extended the lead.CEO Bill McDermott put it bluntly on the July 22 earnings call, describing “a 10-figure cybersecurity business that’s growing faster than all the other top cybersecurity companies.”That is a different kind of claim than the artificial intelligence milestone, since it points to an already profitable, already scaled unit rather than a nascent product line.

ServiceNow’s security and risk business has grown into a billion dollar unit and is now the fastest growing among the top 10 enterprise cybersecurity companies.Bloomberg / Getty Images

ServiceNow’s 2 acquisitions built the business in 8 monthsServiceNow paid $7.75 billion in cash for cyber exposure firm Armis in December, its largest acquisition ever, and closed the deal in April.Three weeks earlier, it had agreed to buy identity security company Veza for roughly $1 billion. Together, the deals were expected to more than triple ServiceNow’s addressable market in security and risk.Related: ServiceNow gets bearish call before major earnings testThe spending mirrors a broader pattern among software companies. Google parent Alphabet paid $32 billion for cloud security startup Wiz, and Palo Alto Networks spent $25 billion on identity security firm CyberArk, both within the past year, according to CNBC.Enterprise software companies increasingly treat cybersecurity as the growth engine that core subscription seats can no longer guarantee alone.The same week, a critical flaw exposed the platform’s own riskHowever, buying top-tier security firms does not automatically secure a company’s underlying foundation. The timing carries an uncomfortable irony. Nine days before the earnings call, ServiceNow disclosed a critical vulnerability in its AI Platform, tracked as CVE-2026-6875, that let unauthenticated attackers execute code without a username or password, according to SecurityWeek.Researchers confirmed active exploitation beginning July 17, according to BleepingComputer, and ServiceNow said it had found no evidence the attacks reached instances it hosts, according to Help Net Security.More AI:Workers just sent AI companies an ultimatumPalantir CEO has a blunt verdict on OpenAI and AnthropicElon Musk pulls no punches with AI rivals as Grok 4.5 debutsThat does not undercut the security business as a growth story, but it complicates the pitch. ServiceNow is asking enterprise customers to trust it as their cybersecurity vendor in the same week its own platform needed an emergency patch.Neither McDermott nor the analysts covering the stock addressed the vulnerability on the call.Software companies are betting security can outrun AI disruptionServiceNow’s quarter offers a preview of how mature software companies plan to survive the reallocation of corporate budgets toward AI infrastructure. Rather than compete directly for that spending, they are acquiring their way into categories like cybersecurity, where demand keeps climbing, regardless of the macro environment.Global spending on information security is projected to grow more than 12% in 2026, to roughly $240 billion, according to a ServiceNow press release.That strategy worked for ServiceNow this quarter. It depends on integration going smoothly and on the acquired businesses outrunning the disruption that just hit IBM and Pegasystems.Investors weighing enterprise software stocks may need to ask less about how fast a company is adopting AI and more about how fast it can buy its way into markets AI cannot replace.Related: Jim Cramer gives his two cents about Netflix stock

Amazon created Prime Day to reward its most loyal shoppers.More than a decade later, the event has grown far beyond Amazon.Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Kohl’s, and other major retailers now routinely launch competing promotions around Prime Day, turning a once Amazon-centric sale into one of the biggest shopping periods of the summer.U.S. shoppers spent a record $26.4 billion online during Amazon’s four-day Prime Day period from June 23 through June 26, according to Adobe Analytics.That was up 9.3% from a year earlier.But beneath the record spending, new data reveals a more complicated picture for Amazon.Amazon shoppers spent less per order and per household than they did a year earlier, while competing retailers experienced significant increases in store traffic during the same promotional period.The shift suggests consumers remain willing to spend when discounts are strong, but are increasingly spreading those dollars across retailers rather than concentrating their shopping on Amazon.That trend is emerging just as Amazon prepares to report second-quarter earnings on July 30.Amazon shares fell about 4.6% on July 23 to $233.66 as technology stocks came under pressure following Alphabet’s latest earnings report and renewed concerns about the cost of artificial intelligence infrastructure.The stock has declined 6.35% over the past five days and 8.26% over the past three months, while remaining up about 1.4% over the year.Amazon Prime Day spending hits record, but growth slowsPrime Day continues to generate enormous consumer spending.Adobe Analytics said U.S. retailers generated $26.4 billion in online sales during the four-day 2026 Prime Day period, up 9.3% year over year.That set another record for the summer promotional period. However, the pace of growth was substantially slower than a year ago.More Amazon:Bank of America doubles down on Amazon shares after Prime DayAmazon’s $8.3 billion Prime Day sends Wall Street a warningAmazon Prime Day gives Wall Street a $22B reason to take noticeDuring the comparable four-day Prime Day period in 2025, U.S. consumers spent $24.1 billion online, according to Adobe, representing 30.3% growth from the comparable four-day period a year earlier.Although the 2024 comparison should be used within context.Amazon’s official Prime Day event lasted only two days in 2024, compared with four days in both 2025 and 2026.Adobe reported $14.2 billion in U.S. online spending during the two official Prime Day days in 2024, up 11% year over year.The more recent figures nevertheless show that industrywide spending continued to reach records in 2026, even as growth slowed sharply from the previous year.

Amazon stock is up 1.4% year to date.Peter Dazeley / Getty Images

Amazon shoppers spend less per orderNumerator, a consumer data firm, found that the average Amazon Prime Day order in 2026 was $47.66, down from $53.34 in its comparable year-earlier analysis.Average household spending also declined to about $143.45 from $156.37 a year earlier.Nearly two-thirds of households that shopped during Prime Day placed at least two separate orders, suggesting consumers remained engaged with the event.But they spent less each time they checked out.In May, Bank of America Consumer Spend Collective data showed U.S. e-commerce spending increased 13% year over year, while online shopping penetration rose 1.8 percentage points to 29.8%.The latest BofA data suggests that momentum continued into the second quarter.In a July 22 research note shared with TheStreet, Bank of America analyst Justin Post said aggregated credit- and debit-card data showed online spending growth accelerated by 2 percentage points from the first quarter.At the same time, the bank said the Prime Day sales-growth bump appeared more modest than in previous years.The figures point to a consumer who remains willing to spend online but is becoming less loyal to any single promotional event.Walmart, Target, Best Buy gain from Prime WeekWhen Amazon held Prime Day from June 23 through June 26, several of its biggest retail rivals launched overlapping promotions.Placer.ai found that all four major chains it analyzed experienced increased store traffic during the promotional period compared with their typical day-of-week traffic.On June 23, the opening day of Prime Day:Visits to Kohl’s were 18.4% above the retailer’s year-to-date day-of-week baselineBest Buy traffic increased 18.1%Target visits rose 16.3%.Walmart recorded a more modest but still positive increase of 4.7%All four retailers continued to experience elevated traffic through the promotional period, according to Placer.ai.Amazon’s competitors are increasingly using the event to capture consumers already in a deal-seeking mindset.Placer.ai characterized the behavior as evidence of a pressured but engaged consumer who is increasingly willing to wait for promotional events before making purchases.For Amazon, that creates both an opportunity and a challenge.Prime Day can stimulate enormous consumer demand, but Amazon no longer has that demand all to itself.Amazon earnings preview points to stronger retail growthDespite more modest Prime Day growth, Bank of America expects Amazon’s broader retail business to accelerate when the company reports second-quarter earnings.BofA maintains a Buy rating on Amazon, with a price objective of $310, ahead of the earnings.Additionally, the firm forecasts Amazon will report total second-quarter revenue of about $198.8 billion, above the roughly $196.8 billion Wall Street estimate the bank cited.The firm expects operating income of approximately $24.1 billion, also slightly above Wall Street’s $23.6 billion estimate.North America could be a strong contributor: BofA expects North American revenue of about $116.3 billion, representing roughly 16% year-over-year growth.Wall Street is expecting about $113.9 billion, according to estimates cited by the bank.The stronger outlook reflects continued strength in online consumer spending and Amazon’s decision to move Prime Day from July to June.This timing gave Amazon an additional sales boost in the second quarter, but the benefit will reverse when the company reports third-quarter results.BofA expects North American retail revenue to decline by roughly $1 billion sequentially in the third quarter because Prime Day sales were pulled forward into June.The timing could create an approximately 4-percentage-point headwind to year-over-year North American growth comparisons.AWS expectations remain highInvestors will also be closely watching Amazon Web Services.AWS revenue increased 28% year over year to $37.6 billion during the first quarter, its fastest growth rate in 15 quarters.Bank of America raised its second-quarter AWS growth estimate to 33% from 31%, which would put revenue at roughly $41 billion.Wall Street is expecting about $40.5 billion and approximately 31% growth, but investor expectations may be higher.BofA said its conversations suggest investors could be expecting AWS growth of around 34%, meaning Amazon may need to outperform published consensus estimates to impress Wall Street.The bank expects AWS growth to accelerate further to approximately 36% in the third quarter.Amazon faces increased retail rivalry and AI costsAmazon’s growth outlook raises another question: how much the company will need to spend to sustain it.Amazon has said it expects approximately $200 billion in capital expenditures in 2026, much of it tied to cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure.Bank of America believes the figure could increase to around $210 billion, partly because of higher memory costs and continued demand for computing capacity.For the second quarter alone, BofA expects capital expenditures of roughly $49 billion.That level of spending has increased investor scrutiny across Big Tech, particularly as companies race to expand AI infrastructure before the investments generate clear returns.For Amazon, however, the upcoming earnings report will also reveal something more fundamental about its original business.Prime Day still generates record levels of online spending, but shoppers now have more places than ever to chase the same deals.Amazon’s challenge is no longer simply getting consumers to spend during Prime Day, it’s making sure enough of that spending still happens on Amazon.Related: Mark Zuckerberg backs Elon Musk Silicon Valley decision

Alphabet just reported the strongest quarter in Google Cloud’s history. Revenue came in at $119.8 billion, up 24% year over year. Cloud grew 82% to $24.8 billion and blew past analyst estimates. The Cloud backlog hit $514 billion. Nearly 90% of the Fortune 100 is using Gemini Enterprise. By most definitions, that is a blowout quarter.The stock fell 6.5% the next morning. Capital expenditures came in at $44.9 billion for a single quarter. Free cash flow turned negative. Most of the net income surge came from a one-time gain on the Anthropic stake. Strip that out and investors were left looking at a company spending at a rate that makes even strong revenue growth feel like it may not be enough. Microsoft (MSFT) reports July 29 and Meta reports July 30. The next week is effectively a live test of whether the AI trade’s math actually works.What Alphabet’s Q2 results reveal about the AI trade’s biggest riskThe Alphabet (GOOGL) reaction captures the problem in one quarter. Cloud revenue grew faster than at any point in the company’s history. Investors sold the stock anyway, CNBC reported. The issue isn’t whether AI is generating revenue. It’s whether the capital required to generate that revenue is sustainable, and whether the returns will ever justify the scale of investment.More Wall Street:Wall Street sends strong 4-word verdict on the stock marketWall Street’s $200 billion IPO wave threatens sell-offWall Street flees software plays for triple-digit chipmaker boomForty-four billion dollars in quarterly capex is not a small number. Annualized, that’s close to $180 billion from Alphabet alone. When you add Microsoft, Meta (META), and Amazon (AMZN), the combined spending for 2026 is running toward $725 billion, with analysts projecting it could cross $1 trillion in 2027, CNBC reported. The question the market is now pricing into every print is how long before the revenue catches up, as TheStreet reported ahead of Alphabet’s earnings.The gap between AI spending and AI revenue that investors are watchingThe capex-to-revenue gap is the central tension in the AI trade right now. Sequoia analyst David Cahn has calculated that there is roughly a $600 billion annual gap between what hyperscalers are spending on AI infrastructure and what the AI ecosystem generates in actual sales, Forbes reported. Goldman Sachs has noted that to justify the scale of investment, hyperscalers would collectively need to generate more than $1 trillion in annual profits, more than double current consensus estimates, as TheStreet reported. According to Allianz Research, the divergence between AI capital spending and revenue growth is running at 46%, already wider than the 32% divergence seen during the 2001 telecom cycle that preceded years of pain in tech stocks.Michael Heinrich, co-founder and CEO of 0G Labs, which builds decentralized AI infrastructure, described the dynamic plainly in an interview with TheStreet: “When the capital going into a technology outruns the revenue coming out of it by that margin, valuations are pricing perfection.”Alphabet’s results were exceptional. And still, free cash flow went negative. That’s what “pricing perfection” looks like in practice: a quarter that would have been a strong earnings beat in any other sector, and a stock that still dropped because the bar for AI spending to produce proportional returns keeps moving higher.

The Alphabet reaction captures the problem in one quarterMichael/Getty Images

How the AI rally compares to the dot-com era and where it divergesThe comparison to the late 1990s is now coming from serious voices. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said earlier this month that AI spending may not “pay off the way you expect and the timetable you expect.” He drew a direct parallel to the internet boom, where the technology proved transformative but the timeline disappointed nearly everyone who priced it in early.Heinrich sees both the parallel and where it breaks.”The similarity is the reflexive bidding up of anything with the label attached, well ahead of proven business models. The difference is that the underlying technology this time is already generating real usage and real cash flows, so this is less a fiction problem and more a physics and economics problem,” he added.The dot-com era was full of companies with no path to revenue. AI has actual enterprise customers paying for actual products. Google Cloud at 82% growth is not a fiction. The risk isn’t that the technology doesn’t work. It’s that the cost of delivering it at scale may not produce returns proportional to the capital being committed, at the speed the market has priced in.What Microsoft and Meta need to show for the AI test to passMicrosoft’s July 29 report will be the next data point. Azure guided for 39% to 40% growth in constant currency. If it delivers at or above that, the market will read it as confirmation that cloud AI spending is translating into revenue acceleration. If it misses, questions about the return on $190 billion in annual capex get louder fast, as TheStreet reported.Meta reports July 30 against its own complicated backdrop. The company has already cut 8,000 jobs this year and moved thousands of employees into AI roles, then acknowledged at an internal meeting that AI-agent progress has not accelerated as expected.The question on Meta’s call is whether $125 billion to $145 billion in AI spending this year is producing the kind of product traction that justifies it.Three things will tell investors whether the AI trade is facing a healthy correction or something more serious: Whether the gap between AI infrastructure spending and AI revenue is narrowing;If AI is moving from assistant to agent, meaning systems that complete tasks and get paid for outcomes rather than just answering questions, and Whether the unit economics of running AI inference are falling fast enough to make applications viable at scale. The next two earnings reports will give investors more data on all three than any single quarter has provided yet.Related: Scott Bessent sends unprecedented warnings to China on AI models

At this stage of the year, parents all over the country are opening their wallets and hitting their local big-box stores to stock up on back-to-school items. And many are straining their budgets to do so.A good 45% of parents plan to take on debt to pay for back-to-school shopping this year, according to Credit Karma.And all told, parents expect to spend a collective $30.4 billion on back-to-school items for K-12 students, according to Deloitte. That amounts to an average of $557 per student.All of this is coming at a time when broad inflation is up 3.5% year over year, according to the most recent Consumer Price Index.Given that so many families are struggling financially due to general economic circumstances, a lot of parents will be seeking out deals in the coming weeks. That presents a huge opportunity for Costco. Yet it’s one the warehouse club giant isn’t really taking advantage of.Costco misses a key opportunityMembers who head to Costco expecting aisles full of notebooks, pencils, crayons, and folders may be surprised.While the warehouse club offers plenty of products aimed at students, it has never made traditional school supplies a major category. Related: Walmart quietly found a way to undercut Costco on gasA look at Costco’s online school supply assortment shows only a limited selection of writing supplies, with just a handful of products available compared to mass retailers that devote entire departments to back-to-school merchandise.Costco does have more to offer in non-school supply categories, like backpacks, apparel, and electronics. But it’s missing out on a big share of the $30.4 billion consumers anticipate spending this year. 

Costco has no plans to capitalize on the back-to-school shopping spree this year.Shutterstock

Costco’s back-to-school shopping strategy is deliberateCostco’s limited school supply assortment may seem like an oversight. But it’s actually a reflection of how the company operates.Costco’s merchandising strategy is built around offering a carefully curated selection of products that deliver exceptional value through larger package sizes and high sales volume. Rather than stocking dozens of brands and product variations, Costco typically limits shoppers to one or two options in a category.More Retail:Costco sees major shift in member behaviorRetail chain shuts all locations as legal changes hit industryCostco makes major investment in online shopping for membersThat model works well for products families buy in large quantities, such as paper towels, bottled water, snacks, and household essentials. School supply shopping, however, often looks very different.Many teachers provide highly specific lists that call for exact notebook sizes, folder colors, glue sticks, dry-erase markers, or other individual items. Parents frequently need small quantities of each product instead of warehouse-sized multipacks, which doesn’t fit Costco’s bulk-first approach.Costco can’t compete with discount chainsCostco also has another merchandising principle that shapes its assortment. The company generally avoids carrying products unless it believes it can offer members a compelling value. If Costco can’t negotiate pricing that allows it to sell an item at a better value than competitors while maintaining its quality standards, it often chooses not to carry the product at all.As Costco CEO Gary Millerchip said during the company’s most recent earnings call, “Our goal is to be the first to lower prices where we see opportunities to do so.”Related: Costco vs. Sam’s Club: Memberships, prices & perks comparedThat philosophy makes commodity school supplies especially challenging. Chains like Dollar Tree and Dollar General have built their businesses around low-priced everyday items, making school supplies a natural fit.Parents can often buy individual notebooks, folders, pencils, and other classroom essentials for around a dollar or less, allowing them to purchase exactly what appears on a teacher’s supply list without paying for larger quantities. Competing against deeply discounted promotions on individual items isn’t consistent with Costco’s business model. Instead, Costco focuses its back-to-school assortment on categories where its buying power and bulk purchasing model can create more meaningful savings, such as the electronics category.Ultimately, Costco’s approach to inventory and product curation makes it difficult for the company to compete on school supplies. That may leave some members disappointed, but it makes sense for the company’s business model.Maurie Backman owns shares of Costco.Related: Costco makes big investment to keep members coming back

AMD has already had one of the best years of any stock in the market. Up more than 170% year-to-date. A market cap pushing toward $1 trillion. A server CPU business that’s been quietly taking share from Intel while the GPU story was getting all the headlines. Wells Fargo analyst Aaron Rakers raised his price target to $615 from $505 at the end of June after AMD’s EPYC Venice processors began ramping ahead of any prior generation.Then on July 22, AMD confirmed a deal with Anthropic worth up to $5 billion. And Rakers put out another note saying the Anthropic deal gave him “further confidence” in estimates that are already above Wall Street consensus. The $615 target stays. The conviction behind it just got stronger.Wells Fargo holds $615 AMD price target after Anthropic dealThe Anthropic deal was widely expected by investors. AMD had already announced similar arrangements with Meta and OpenAI, each committing to 6 gigawatts of AMD-based infrastructure, with 1GW initial deployments from both expected in the second half of 2026.Anthropic’s deal adds up to 2GW of Instinct MI455X GPUs and Helios rack-scale systems, with the first gigawatt of compute beginning deployment in the first half of 2027. AMD’s equity investment of up to $5 billion in Anthropic is milestone-contingent, meaning AMD writes the check as Anthropic hits agreed deployment targets.More Wall Street:Wall Street sends strong 4-word verdict on the stock marketWall Street’s $200 billion IPO wave threatens sell-offWall Street flees software plays for triple-digit chipmaker boom”While an Anthropic deal was widely anticipated, we view this as incrementally positive following this week’s Microsoft announcement,” Rakers wrote in the note,according to TipRanks. “We have ‘further confidence’ in our above-consensus AMD data center GPU revenue estimate at $40.6B in 2027. We think this will easily push buy-side expectations to greater than $50B.”AMD shares rose roughly 2% on July 22 in midday trading. The stock has been one of the strongest performers in semiconductors all year. Rakers ranks 8th out of more than 12,000 Wall Street analysts tracked by TipRanks, with a 73% success rate and an average return of 59.4%.Why Wells Fargo sees AMD GPU revenue doubling Wall Street’s expectationsRakers’ $40.6 billion data center GPU revenue estimate for 2027 isn’t just above consensus. It’s substantially above it. His 2027 EPS estimate of $13.40 runs roughly 3% ahead of the Street. His 2028 estimate of $18.75 is about 8% above consensus. The $615 price target is built on a 33 times earnings multiple applied to that 2028 number.The GPU numbers are what make the model striking. Rakers projects GPU revenue of $15.6 billion in 2026, then a near-tripling to $40.6 billion in 2027, and nearly $63 billion by 2028. That trajectory reflects his view that AMD is moving from training into inference, where its EPYC CPUs and Instinct GPUs create genuine competitive leverage against Nvidia.The AMD-Anthropic deal includes a multi-year engineering collaboration. Anthropic will use Claude to optimize workloads on AMD’s ROCm software stack and Instinct GPUs. That’s the piece that matters beyond the headline number.AMD’s historical weakness against Nvidia has been software, not hardware. A deep technical partnership with one of the world’s leading AI labs is a direct attempt to close that gap, as TheStreet reported.

AMD has already had one of the best years of any stock in the marketJustin/Getty Images

The AMD server CPU story Wall Street keeps underestimatingThe June 30 price target raise was actually built primarily on the server CPU story, not GPUs. Rakers raised his server CPU revenue estimates to $16 billion for 2026, $20.5 billion for 2027, and $25 billion for 2028. The 2026 figure represents 68% year-over-year growth. He left his GPU estimates unchanged at that point.The driver is AMD’s sixth-generation EPYC Venice processor, built on 2nm architecture, which began production ramping in late May 2026 with volume shipments expected through the second half of the year. More customers are validating and ramping Venice than any prior EPYC generation, according to Invezz.Agentic AI is driving a lot of that. As AI inference workloads scale across data centers, the CPU sitting alongside the GPU becomes a more meaningful part of the total system cost and performance equation.AMD closed June at $580.91, hitting a new 52-week high of $584. The stock is up more than 170% year-to-date. That kind of run typically makes analysts more cautious about raising targets. Rakers isn’t cautious. He thinks the earnings growth ahead is large enough to justify the valuation even after the run.What AMD’s Microsoft and Anthropic deals say about its fight with NvidiaAMD now has announced AI compute commitments totaling roughly 14 gigawatts across Anthropic, Meta, and OpenAI. Microsoft announced plans to expand its Azure cloud with AMD technology earlier in the same week as the Anthropic deal.That sequence isn’t coincidental. AMD has been systematically building relationships with the hyperscalers and frontier AI labs that will determine which GPU platforms get scaled over the next three to five years.Nvidia’s real moat isn’t the chips. It’s CUDA, the software layer that makes its GPUs easier to build on. AMD has ROCm, which works, but it hasn’t had the customer pull to make developers switch.Getting Anthropic to commit to a multi-year engineering project specifically around optimizing Claude on AMD hardware is a different kind of win than a purchasing agreement. Customers buy things. Engineering partners build things together. That’s the gap AMD is trying to close.Barclays analyst Tom O’Malley called the absence of equity warrants in the Anthropic deal notable, describing it as evidence of “which direction the puck is moving in a supply-constrained world.” AMD’s prior deals with Meta and OpenAI included equity warrants. Anthropic didn’t ask for them.That’s the market telling you something about AMD’s negotiating position right now, and it’s the kind of signal Rakers is factoring into a $615 target that still implies roughly 12% upside from where the stock was trading on July 22. Related: Bank of America resets AMD stock price target

Bank of America reiterated its Buy rating and $130 price target on ServiceNow (NOW) after the software company reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter contract growth. The target represents about a 36% upside from the $95.46 share price listed in BofA’s July 23 report.According to the report, ServiceNow’s subscription revenue rose 24.5% to $3.88 billion, and current remaining performance obligations (contracted revenue expected within the next 12 months) increased 21% to $13.2 billion. Both measures exceeded Wall Street expectations.BofA highlighted a less obvious point in the report: ServiceNow’s AI agents may benefit from the workflow history and infrastructure records already stored on its platform.Analyst Tal Liani said ServiceNow can draw on that context when an agent encounters an enterprise problem that does not have a simple, documented solution.Because ServiceNow already stores those records, its agents could handle difficult cases with fewer data-integration steps than an outside AI product, according to the report.BofA says enterprise context can help ServiceNow handle harder casesA basic service-desk agent can reset a password, classify a support ticket, or approve software access by following a documented process.An application outage presents a more complicated task. Before taking action, an agent may need to identify which servers support the application, review recent configuration changes, check which other services depend on it, and confirm who has authority to approve a repair.The product debate is shifting from simple L1 automation … to broader agentic workflows.ServiceNow can provide that background through customers’ workflow histories, its Configuration Management Database (CMDB) and newer knowledge tools.The CMDB records applications, servers, services, and the relationships among them. ServiceNow’s Context Engine adds information about people, roles, company policies, and prior decisions. Those records can help an agent determine which systems could be affected before it changes a configuration or restarts a service.A customer deploying a third-party AI tool may need to extract records from several systems, explain how those records relate to one another, and return the agent’s output to the software where employees complete the work.ServiceNow can give an agent access to existing workflows, system relationships, permissions, and approval rules on the same platform. BofA said the setup could reduce deployment costs and complexity while allowing the agent to complete a larger portion of the process.More AI:The new Chinese AI model rattling U.S. tech investorsAnthropic restores access to Mythos 5 for select organizationsSoftBank CEO offers stinging critique of Musk’s AI betThe approach could become more useful as companies move beyond repetitive support requests. Poorly documented incidents, unusual security events, and work spanning several departments require agents to interpret company-specific information before choosing an action.BofA views ServiceNow’s position inside those workflows as its key strategic advantage over third-party AI tools. But the firm also cautioned that the advantage still depends on pricing, the quality of agents’ results, and customers’ willingness to expand their usage.

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ServiceNow’s AI products are gaining paid adoptionServiceNow’s second-quarter results provide early commercial evidence for BofA’s argument.The company’s AI products surpassed $1 billion in annual contract value during the quarter. The number of customers running ServiceNow’s agentic AI in production increased ninefold over the past nine months.ServiceNow is also charging more when customers upgrade to packages containing its newest AI products.CFO Gina Mastantuono said that pricing increases for the company’s established Pro Plus packages remained above 30%. Upgrades to recently introduced AI-native packages produced increases of 20% to 30%, in line with the range ServiceNow had previously outlined.Related: Bank of America resets ServiceNow stock price target sharplySecurity is one example of how ServiceNow can combine enterprise information with an automated response. ServiceNow’s security and risk products appeared in 16 of its 20 largest second-quarter deals, and the company completed 24 security deals worth more than $1 million each, according to BofA.Products added through Armis and Veza provide information about devices, vulnerabilities, and user identities. ServiceNow can connect those records to workflows that assign a problem, route an approval, and document the steps taken to resolve it.BofA said traction from AI Control Tower, Armis and Veza helped drive the quarter’s security results.ServiceNow’s key second-quarter AI indicatorsMore than $1 billion: AI annual contract valueNinefold: Increase in customers running agentic AI in production over nine months20% to 30%: Pricing increase from upgrades to AI-native packages24: Security deals worth more than $1 million eachThe cost of running AI remains the next testBofA’s argument depends on three unresolved questions: whether ServiceNow’s agents consistently produce reliable results, whether customers expand their usage, and whether the company can charge enough to cover the costs of running AI workloads.ServiceNow’s second-quarter gross margin fell to 77.9%, down from 81% a year earlier, and came in below BofA’s 79.3% estimate. The firm reduced its fiscal 2026 gross-margin estimate by 45 basis points to 78.9%.A lower gross margin means a larger portion of ServiceNow’s revenue is being consumed by the cost of delivering its products. BofA expects AI adoption and increased use of hyperscaler infrastructure to remain near-term expenses. The integration of recent acquisitions adds further costs.The company offset some of that pressure elsewhere in the income statement. Its adjusted operating margin reached 29.5%, about 270 basis points above Wall Street expectations, helped by stronger subscription revenue and the timing of spending.Management maintained its full-year operating-margin forecast of 31.5%, however, as AI usage and acquisition integration continue to weigh on expenses.The quarter’s subscription-revenue outperformance also received help from U.S. federal customers. Strong demand shifted some on-premise revenue recognition from the third quarter into the second.ServiceNow forecast third-quarter subscription revenue of $3.975 billion to $3.980 billion, slightly below the roughly $4 billion that analysts expected. The pull-forward means investors cannot attribute the entire second-quarter beat to AI demand.ServiceNow has shown that customers will deploy its AI products and pay more for upgraded packages. Sustaining BofA’s bullish view now requires those agents to resolve complex cases accurately and cheaply enough to expand usage without pushing gross margins lower.Related: ServiceNow gets bearish call before major earnings test

True boat lovers reject the popular saying that the two happiest days of a boater’s life are the day they buy the boat and the day they sell it. For them, happiness is putting the boat in the water and sailing off, never-ending expenses included. That devotion drove a boom in boat sales during the Covid pandemic, as many Americans turned to the water to escape. After seeing a spike in sales during the crisis, when most other industries struggled, the recreational boating market is now feeling the impact of consumers’ discretionary spending cuts. In fact, most boat owners make less than $100,000 a year, often purchasing smaller and more affordable vessels. This makes the industry “particularly sensitive to shifts in consumer confidence and credit availability,” according to IBIS World’s Boat Sales & Repair in the U.S. report. According to Deloitte’s State of the US Consumer July 2026 report, discretionary spending intentions grew for a third straight month in June; however, they remain below the 2021 baseline. The full-year 2025 data from NMMA reveal that new boat retail unit sales dropped 8.8% year over year to 215,237 units, down from 236,070 units in 2024. Amid these shifts in consumer behavior, the largest U.S. boating retailer, West Marine, recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and closed 59 stores. More recently, the boat retailer confirmed an additional wave of closures. West Marine closes another 32 stores West Marine Inc., the largest boating and marine supplies retailer in the United States, recently confirmed plans to close an additional 32 retail locations, bringing the total number of stores slated for closure to 91, reported BoatBlurb. The latest 32 closures join the previously announced 59 closures and are part of the company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring. The company disclosed several factors pushing it into bankruptcy, includingsupply chain disruptions, extreme weather events, and shifts in consumer behavior, according to its official press release. West Marine aims for Chapter 11 to help it strengthen its balance sheet, reduce debt, and improve financial flexibility. “We recently made the difficult decision to close select store locations. While this change wasn’t easy, our commitment to you hasn’t changed one bit — West Marine is open, stocked and ready to help with everything you need to get back on the water,” the company states on the store closure web page. 

West Marine closes a total of 91 stores in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

West Marine’s total 91 locations closed: Alabama (1)
Mobile: 5004 Dauphin Island Pkwy. 
California (7)
Chula Vista: 630 Bay Blvd. 

Monterey: 2024 Del Monte Ave.  

Oceanside: 1719 Oceanside Blvd. 

Pittsburg: 4645 Century Blvd.  

Redding: 2607 Bechelli Lane  

Sacramento: 9500 Micron Ave #116 

Santa Barbara: 132C Harbor Wy.
Connecticut  (2)
Branford:  33 Business Park Dr.

Norwalk: 99 Water St.
Delaware (1)
Rehoboth Beach: 18914 Rehoboth Mall Blvd. 
Florida (18)
Bonita Springs: 28520 Bonita Crossings Blvd. 

Fernandina Beach: 474347 E. State Road 200 

Jacksonville: 14180 Beach Blvd. 

Orlando: 7478 S. Orange Blossom Trl. 

Palm Coast: 250 Palm Coast Pkwy. NE 

Port Charlotte: 4265 Tamiami Trail 

Venice: 1860 Tamiami Trail S 

Winter Haven: 1107 3rd St. SW 

Deerfield Beach: 110 N. Federal Hwy. 

Cutler Bay: 19407 S. Dixie Hwy. 

Miami-Westchester: 8687 Coral Wy. 

Pinecrest: 11735 S. Dixie Hwy.

Delray Beach: 2275 South Federal Hwy., Ste. 220 

Punta Gorda: 700 Tamiami Trail 

Melbourne: 1001 W. New Haven Ave.

Jensen Beach: 3554 NW Federal Hwy. 

Spring Hill: 1279 Wendy Ct. 
Georgia (1)
Savannah: 7700 Abercorn St. 
Illinois (2)
Fox Lake: 2 W. Grand Ave. 

Winthrop Harbor: 1707 7th St. 
Louisiana (2)
Lafayette: 2668 Johnston St. 

Mandeville: 1803 N. Causeway Blvd. 
Massachusetts (3)
Marblehead: 32 Atlantic Ave.  

Vineyard Haven: 52 Beach Rd. 

Danvers: 139 Endicott St.
Maryland (5) 
Baltimore: 2700 Lighthouse Point E  

Edgewater: 3257 Solomon’s Island Rd.  

Ocean City: 12638 Ocean Gateway 

Rock Hall: 21386 Rock Hall Ave. 

North East: 475 N. Mauldin Ave. 
Maine (2)
Portland: 127 Marginal Way  

Southwest Harbor: 11 Apple Lane  
Michigan (7)
Bay City: 4128 Wilder Rd.  

Grand Haven: 810 Jackson St.  

Muskegon: 2492 Henry St.  

Petoskey: 105 West Mitchell St.  

St. Clair Shores: 25050 Jefferson Ave.  

Troy: 789 E. Big Beaver Rd.  

Holland: 12513 James St. 
Minnesota (1)
Minnetonka: 12350 Wayzata Blvd. 
Missouri (1)
Osage Beach: 3872 Osage Beach Pkwy.  
North Carolina (2)
Oriental: 1104 Broad St. Ext.  

Raleigh: 3027 Capital Blvd.  
New Jersey (4) 
Cape May: 791 Route 109  

Eatontown: 178 State Route 35 S  

Toms River: 213 Route 37 East  

Lodi: 100 Route 17 South
Nevada (1)
Reno: 2505 Mill St.  
New York (6) 
Irondequoit: 1850 Ridge Rd. East  

Port Washington: 16 Soundview Marketplace  

Watertown: 21214 Pioneer Plaza Dr. 

Buffalo: 2192 Niagra St. 

Huntington Harbor: 56 New York Ave. 

Riverhead: 1089 Old Country Rd. 
Ohio (4)
Cleveland: 1577 Saint Clair Ave. NE 

North Olmsted: 24781 Lorain Rd.  

Sandusky: 207 E. Water St.  

Toledo: 6176 N Summit Bldg. F 
Oregon (2)
Tigard: 15230 SW Sequoia Pkwy.  

Portland: 12085 N. Parker Ave. 
Pennsylvania (1)
Bensalem: 2126 Street Rd.  
South Carolina (5)
Anderson: 3501-2 Clemson Blvd.   

Murrells Inlet: 12078 Highway 17 Bypass  

North Myrtle Beach: 1288 Highway 17 N  

Port Royal: 1347 Ribaut Rd.  

Columbia: 142 Harbison Blvd. 
Tennessee (1)
Knoxville: 7812 Kingston Pike 
Texas (1) 
Lewisville: 4850 SH 121 
Virginia (2) 
Glen Allen: 10819 W. Broad St. 

Alexandria: 601 South Patrick St. 
Vermont (1)
Burlington: 861 Williston Rd. 
Washington (7) 
Bellingham: 3560 Meridian St.  

Bremerton: 5971 State Hwy. 303 NE  

Everett: 1716 West Marine View Dr. 

Port Townsend: 2428 Washington St.  

Spokane: 5306 East Sprague Ave. 

Bellevue: 13211 Northup Wy. 

Olympia: 1530 Black Lake Blvd SW Suite C 
Wisconsin (1) 
Greenfield: 4141 S 76th St.

Source: Notice of Filing Store Closing List, West Marine 

West Marine Chapter 11 bankruptcy details and canceled auction West Marine signaled it is preparing for a potential Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing to restructure its debt and lease obligations, TheStreet Co-Editor-in-Chief Daniel Kline reported in May 2026. Since then, the outdoor giant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, closed 59 stores, and now an additional 32.  “West Marine has been a trusted partner to the boating community for decades, and we remain deeply committed to that mission. The actions we are taking today will allow us to optimize our operations and rationalize our footprint, so that we can focus on continuing to serve our customers and community well into the future,” stated CEO Paulee Day, when the company filed for Chapter 11. To support ongoing operations through the Chapter 11 process, West Marine reached an agreement with its secured lenders to use its cash collateral. The lenders also agreed to provide new financing to support the company’s exit from Chapter 11. Related: Discount grocery chain closing storesAfter filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, West Marine also filed customary first-day motions with the Bankruptcy Court requesting authority to continue operations without disruption, which includes meeting employee payroll and benefits. The company’s restructuring process faced its first major hurdle when an asset auction was canceled after no qualified bids emerged, reported SGB Media on July 7, 2026. The boating and fishing retailer confirmed it plans to continue with its pre-arranged reorganization plan that includes the closure of around one-quarter of its locations and an exchange of debt for equity. Under the pre-petition reorganization plan filed in Delaware’s bankruptcy court, lenders will convert roughly $251.2 million in term loan claims into 100 percent of the new equity interests in the reorganized company. The Restructuring Support Agreement (RSA) was backed by 100 percent of its FILO (First In, Last Out) lenders and 96.2 percent of its term loan lenders.  The document also states that the total outstanding obligations amount to $429.3 million. “Under the current reorganization plan, general unsecured creditors face a “death-trap” provision that will result in little to no financial recovery. The total amount owed to these unsecured creditors — which includes major vendors like Garmin International ($8.57 million), Virtual Supply ($5.8 million), and Sierra International ($4.7 million) — ranges between $99.3 million and $109.2 million,” reports SGB Media. West Marine confirmed that vendors and suppliers will be paid in full for all goods and services provided after the May 17, 2026, bankruptcy filing date. Only the debts incurred before filing are subject to losses. The Combined Confirmation Hearing, initially set for July 30, has been postponed to Aug. 11. What West Marine consumers should know regarding closures Consumers who own a gift card or placed an order for pickup at one of the stores scheduled for closure should know that they can still use the gift card at the closing store up to the closure date, online, or at any other West Marine location. The retailer also noted that all orders placed before June 12, 2026, can be picked up at a closing West Marine store location. Consumers can’t return or exchange merchandise at closing stores, as all sales are final at any closing store.Shoppers can still place orders online and in store, and warranties and product support will be honored. Regarding the West Advantage Rewards program, the company shared that members’ accounts will remain active, and loyal customers can continue to use their account benefits.What’s next for West Marine?  West Marine had more than 200 retail locations across North America before announcing its Chapter 11 filing. This suggests the retailer will soon be left with about 110 operating stores. In addition to closing stores with unprofitable leases, West Marine plans to transform and build its business around West Marine Pro, its wholesale and professional division, that drives more than 40% of its total revenue, writes Marine Industry News. West Marine Pro provides service to marine technicians, marina operators, fleet managers, boat builders and government organizations responsible for maritime assets.The boat giant also plans to remodel its remaining stores to better serve professional customers by allocating more space for high-volume marine parts, while scaling back non-essential/discretionary retail products.The retailer also plans to connect its store inventory to its website and Pro app. This lets commercial clients scan barcodes, view wholesale prices, and check local stock in real time.Related: Car dealer closes 40% of its stores, shares bankruptcy warning

TheStreet aims to feature only the best products and services. If you buy something via one of our links, we may earn a commission.Why we love this dealWhen you’re enjoying the outdoors, depending on where you are, you typically have to give up some of the comforts you enjoy in and around your home to take advantage of the adventure. But more and more products are on the market these days that help you bring the coziness of home with you whether you’re enjoying the beach, the lake, the mountains, or the campground. Comfortable furniture, multi-functional gear, and state-of-the-art tents have all changed how we enjoy the outdoors, helping get more folks outside and allowing you to enjoy your outside excursions even more. And when you’re enjoying an outdoor adventure with a buddy or group of friends, the Arrowhead Outdoor Camping Loveseat is the perfect piece of portable furniture you won’t want to travel without.The folding loveseat is designed for travel and is sturdy enough to support more than one person without actually being heavy while you transport it, and lucky for eager outdoorsmen it’s on sale on Amazon for 50% off. Originally $80, you can get the chair, which comes with a handy carrying bag, for only $40 right now. Arrowhead Outdoor Camping Loveseat, $40 (was $80) at Amazon

Courtesy of Amazon

Shop at AmazonWhy do shoppers love it?This folding chair brings the comforts of your couch to the great outdoors. Measuring 56 inches long, 21 inches wide, and 37.5 inches high, this collapsible loveseat can comfortably provide sitting or reclining space. With a weight capacity of 650 pounds, two adults can comfortably sit next to one another, two or three children can squeeze together onto the seat, or you can stretch out and enjoy the loveseat all by yourself. The seat itself sits 19 inches off the ground, measuring 40.7 inches long with a backrest measuring 18.5 inches. The soft but heavy-duty 600D Oxford polyester canvas fabric that the seat it constructed out of provides comfort while also being super supportive and sturdy. It’s padded with an integrated polyester cushioning along the seat and armrests, while the rest of the loveseat is made with a powder-coated alloy steel. Together, the two create a water-resistant piece of furniture that’s made for the outdoors. It won’t rust or deteriorate with exposure to moisture and it resists mildew and UV rays, so it won’t fade or become gross over time. Related: Amazon’s ‘easy to set up’ 10-foot pop-up canopy tent is on sale for $94Each armrest has an insulated cupholder to keep your drinks cold and there are two mesh compartments along the back for storage. It comes in a wide variety of colors and printsWhat to expect from a $40 camping chair: Pros and consProsWeight-bearing: The chair can hold up to 650 pounds.Easy-to-transport: The chair collapses and folds in easily. Use the carrying case for storage and transporting purposes. Comfortable but sturdy: The loveseat is made with heavy-duty Oxford polyester canvas fabric, polyester cushioning, and powder-coated alloy steel. Additional storage: The cupholders and mesh compartments along the back of the chair provide storage space. ConsFlimsy seams: Although sturdy, some shoppers find the stitching and seams to be flimsy and fray easily. Shoppers love this comfortable chair that’s perfect for two, sometimes even three people. It’s well-padded and comfortable but doesn’t trap heat which is ideal in super warm conditions. “It’s so convenient and reliable,” one shopper said. “Sturdy and heavy-duty,” another shopper said. Folks use it for everything from trips to the beach and mountains or to watch their child’s soccer games on weekends. Shop more deals Canpsky Lightweight Portable Camping Chairs, $93 (was $110) at AmazonOlixis Folding Camping Cot, $48 (was $70) at AmazonOutdorm 3-Person Camping Chair, $100 (was $130) at AmazonThe Arrowhead Outdoor Camping Loveseat is the comfortable way to ensure seating wherever you go, even when the destination is the great outdoors. 

On July 2, 1962, Sam Walton opened his first Walmart store in Rogers, Arkansas. Nestled in the Ozark Mountains, the 16,000-square-foot space was stocked with thousands of American-made products at “Always Low Prices.” This included home goods, clothing, gardening tools, and toiletries: A tube of Gleem toothpaste, for instance, cost 53 cents.A hit from the very beginning, Walmart had expanded to 38 stores by 1970, the year it went public. Just one year later, in May 1971, the company announced its first 2-for-1 stock split — a reflection of its rapid growth, rising share price, and management’s commitment to keeping shares accessible to everyday investors, just like its low-priced merchandise.In fact, the company has split its stock 12 times since going public. Along the way, as Walmart continued to grow, it became an early adopter of technology that helped it track inventory by computer, expand into international markets, and ultimately surpass competitors like Kmart and Sears.More than five decades later, that same willingness to embrace new technology — now in the form of artificial intelligence — continues to shape Walmart’s business. AI is helping the world’s largest retailer improve everything from inventory management to customer service, while also expanding its razor-thin margins.The company has also continued splitting its stock. Here’s a closer look at Walmart’s most recent split, stock split history, and whether another one could be on the horizon.Walmart stock split quick factsNumber of splits: 12 Most recent split: Feb. 22, 2024 (3:1)First split: May 19, 1971 (2:1)Decade with the most splits: 1980sMost common split ratio: 2:1 @feetdemon1000 #walmart ♬ Dexter – The blood theme – Geek Music When was Walmart’s last stock split?Walmart announced its latest stock split on January 30, 2024. According to its press release, the company split shares 3-to-1 for the benefit of the 400,000 store associates who participate in Walmart’s Associate Stock Purchase Plan.“Sam Walton believed it was important to keep our share price in a range where purchasing whole shares, rather than fractions, was accessible to all of our associates,” said Doug McMillon, the then-President and CEO of Walmart. “Given our growth and our plans for the future, we felt it was a good time to split the stock and encourage our associates to participate in the years to come. As Sam said, ‘We’re all in this together. That’s the secret.’”Shareholders of record as of February 22, 2024, received two additional shares of Walmart stock for each share they previously held. Shortly after the split, Walmart also announced that it would raise its dividend by 9%, its largest increase in over a decade.Related: Does Walmart pay dividends? Its yield and payouts explainedHow many times has Walmart split its stock?The big box retailer has split its shares 12 times in total — three times in the 1970s, five in the 80s, two in the 90s, and one in the 2020s.Walmart’s stock splitsSplit dateRecord dateSplit ratioFeb. 20242/22/243:1March 19993/19/992:1Feb. 19932/2/932:1June 19906/15/902:1June 19876/19/872:1Sept. 19859/3/852:1June 19836/20/832:1June 19826/21/822:1Nov. 198011/25/802:1August 19758/19/752:1March 19723/22/722:1May 19715/19/712:1Source: WalmartWhat would Walmart’s stock be worth if it had never split?Because Walmart has split its stock 12 times since it went public, an investor who purchased a share of the company’s stock on the day of its IPO would now hold 6,144 shares. At a July 22, 2026, closing price of around $108 per share, one original WMT share from October 1970 would be worth approximately $663,552.Related: How many employees does Walmart have in 2026? Its workforce, locations & layoffs explainedIs Walmart going to split its stock again?Walmart has not announced any plans for a future stock split; however, if the past is any guide, it could split shares again when its share price climbs to a level considered “inaccessible” for its store associates.More on stock splits:Nvidia’s stock split history: Everything you need to knowIBM’s stock split history: Why Big Blue stopped splitting sharesHome Depot’s stock split history: What you need to knowAround the time of its 2024 split, shares were trading in the $175 range — that level could offer investors a useful benchmark should the company’s continued earnings growth push the stock higher.Related: History of Walmart: Company timeline & facts