[NEW YORK] Walmart will join the Nasdaq 100 Index, replacing AstraZeneca, Nasdaq Global Indexes said on Friday (Jan 9).
The changes will take effect before the market opens on Jan 20. US markets will be closed on Jan. 19 for a holiday.
Walmart’s addition follows its move last year to shift its stock listing from the New York Stock Exchange to Nasdaq, the largest exchange transfer on record.
Jefferies Financial Group analysts estimated in December that Walmart’s inclusion could prompt nearly US$19 billion of inflows as index-tracking funds and exchange-traded products rebalance their holdings.
The retailer was widely expected to enter the benchmark during the index provider’s annual December reconstitution, but the timing of the listing switch caused it to miss the cutoff used to compile market data, analysts said.
The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company has seen its market value climb to nearly US$1 trillion after steady sales growth and share gains, as consumers gravitated towards lower-priced essentials. Walmart has also expanded its digital operations, with its US e-commerce business expected to reach profitability this year, alongside growth in advertising, marketplace and membership revenue.
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The retailer has recently increased its use of artificial intelligence (AI) across internal operations such as scheduling and supply-chain management, and has begun rolling out AI-powered tools for shoppers in partnership with OpenAI.
Walmart shares have gained 146 per cent on a total return basis in the past three years while AstraZeneca shares rose 42 per cent.
AstraZeneca’s removal extends the stock’s retreat from its pandemic-era peak, when its Covid-19 vaccine propelled the drugmaker into the index. Shares have since lagged as vaccine-related revenue faded and investor attention shifted towards obesity treatments developed by rivals.
The Nasdaq 100 tracks the largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq exchange and underpins hundreds of billions of US dollars in investment products. More than US$600 billion in assets tracked the index through ETFs as at December 2025, according to Nasdaq, including the US$408 billion Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1.
The Nasdaq 100 rose about 21 per cent on a total-return basis in 2025, compared with gains of 18 per cent for the S&P 500 and 16 per cent for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. BLOOMBERG
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