Walmart Inc. shares surged on Thursday, pushing the retailer’s market value over US$500 billion for the first time, after it posted stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings and boosted its annual sales and profit forecasts.

Its shares climbed 7 per cent, the most since March 2020, to close at an all-time high of $64. The stock jump added roughly $34 billion in value, giving the company a market capitalization of $515.8 billion.

Reaching $500 billion in market value is a sign of Walmart’s growing dominance, according to Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co. He noted that Walmart has done a better job than many of its retail peers at building out its online business, which should help it attract more shoppers and retain the higher income customers it’s gained even as inflation cools. 

Walmart remains the biggest company in the S&P 500 Consumer Staples Index by market value, and it’s the 14th largest in the S&P 500 Index. Procter & Gamble Co. is the next largest in the consumer staples gauge at $396 billion. Peers Costco Wholesale Corp. and Target Corp. come in at roughly $352 billion and $74 billion, respectively.

While the company isn’t immune to retail industry headwinds, including a stretched U.S. consumer, “we believe Walmart’s initiatives and share gain set it apart and that its scale/balance sheet provide favorable positioning,” Evercore ISI analyst Greg Melich wrote in a note following results.

Walmart had already bested the S&P 500 Consumer Staples Index so far in 2024, and Thursday’s jump extended its outperformance. The retailer has climbed 22 per cent this year, compared to a 9.7 per cent gain for the sector gauge.