Walmart has long been the biggest retailer in the US, since it overtook Sears in 1993. For the past 12 years, it has also been the leader when it comes to revenue.
But it is looking like it is set to be dethroned by Amazon.
In its latest earnings release due Thursday, the e-commerce giant is expected to report that it has leapfrogged Walmart when it comes to revenue.
The key metric, which differs from sales or market cap, is often used as shorthand to determine the size of a retailer.
Walmart has held the top spot for the amount of revenue generated per quarter since 2012, when it leapfrogged oil giant Exxon Mobil, CNBC reported.
But according to analysts surveyed by financial markets data company LSEG, Amazon is expected to report revenue of $187 billion for the fourth quarter of last year.
Walmart will not report its results until February 20, but it is expected to announce revenue of $180 billion, according to CNBC.
While Walmart is still dominant when it comes to retail, Amazon also generates revenue through other streams such as Prime Video and its cloud computing service.
‘Given the growth trajectories of the two companies, it has always been on the cards that Amazon would overtake Walmart’s revenue at some point,’ retail expert Neil Saunders told DailyMail.com.
‘While Amazon is a powerhouse in retail, it is a diversified group that draws its sales from a wide variety of areas.’
Saunders, who is managing director at GlobalData retail, notes that the two companies have their own areas where they excel.
‘Amazon struggles in grocery, whereas Walmart has that category sewn up. Amazon is better at ecommerce in general merchandise, although Walmart is investing heavily here,’ he said.
Walmart also still leads the way when it comes to annual sales, CNBC reported, turning in more than $600 billion in sales in each of the past two years.
While revenue is the entire income a company generates before any expenses are subtracted, sales are the proceeds it generates from selling goods or services to its customers.
Walmart has long been the biggest retailer in the US, since it overtook Sears in 1993. But it is looking like it is set to be dethroned by Amazon
Amazon is a diverse company which generates revenue through its delivery service, as well as stores, Prime Video and its cloud computing service
‘Given the growth trajectories of the two companies, it has always been on the cards that Amazon would overtake Walmart’s revenue at some point,’ said Neil Saunders
Amazon has seen its e-commerce sales boom thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This fundamentally altered the way Americans shop – pushing them to go online rather than visit brick-and-mortar locations.
Sales in the US have increased by more than 100 percent since 2019, according to CNBC.
Another significant reason that Amazon has shot up the charts when it comes to revenue is its cloud business Amazon Web Services, which provides servers, storage and remote computing among other services.
Revenue for its cloud business has more than doubled since 2020, and now accounts for around 17 percent of total sales.
Amazon deserves credit for its growth, said Saunders.
‘It is still a young company but its innovation and good thinking around how to deliver value for its customers has allowed it to succeed.’
Currently, there are only a handful of companies that have managed to reach the milestone of generating $100 billion in revenue in a quarter.
Amazon is expected to report revenue of $187 billion for the fourth quarter of last year, according to analysts surveyed by financial markets data company LSEG (Pictured: CEO Andy Jassy)
In addition to Amazon and Walmart, Apple has managed it, as well as health insurance company UnitedHealth.
Apple only reached the milestone during the last holiday quarter, however, when many Americans buy its products as gifts.
Last week, the tech company reported revenue of $124 billion for the fourth quarter of last year.
Saunders predicts that the $100 billion club will not be exclusive, and will see new members continue to join.
‘What this shows, however, is that all the things spouted about monopolies and market dominance are off base,’ he said.
‘People used to claim Walmart was unassailable. Now, Amazon is a challenger. Many years from now, Amazon will probably be challenged by another player.
‘The retail market is very democratic and healthy, and big companies duking it out is ultimately very good for customers.’
