Walmart Stock Chart: How to Read WMT Price Trends, Key Levels, and What to Watch Next

You know how to spot a good deal in a Walmart aisle. But what if you could spot a trend in the company itself? That story starts with its stock chart, and it’s much easier to read than you might think. By understanding just three basic parts, you’ll know how to read a WMT chart and see the story unfold.

At its core, the chart has two simple dimensions. The vertical line on the side acts like a ruler, showing you the price of a single share of Walmart (WMT) in dollars. The line running along the bottom is its calendar, representing the time period you’re looking at, whether it’s a single day or the last five years. These two axes create the canvas for the stock’s journey.

But what about those vertical bars at the bottom? That’s called volume, and it shows how many shares were traded on a given day. Think of it like measuring the size of a crowd at a concert. A big price jump is like a loud cheer—but if that cheer comes from a massive, enthusiastic crowd (high volume), it suggests something truly significant is happening.

This is a core principle of technical analysis: price alone doesn’t tell the whole story. A price move on low volume is like a whisper, while a move on high volume is a shout that makes the market pay attention. Knowing these key metrics—price, time, and the volume that drives them—is the first step to seeing the real story behind the stock.

Reading the Mood of the Market: What a Candlestick Shows That a Simple Line Can’t

While a line chart connects the closing price from one day to the next, it hides the story of what happened during the day. For a closer look, analysts use a tool called a candlestick. Instead of just one data point, each candlestick gives you four key pieces of information for a specific period, like a single day, painting a much richer picture of the price action.

The thick, colored part of the candlestick is called the body, and it tells you the day’s opening and closing prices. If the body is green, the price of Walmart stock closed higher than it opened—a winning day. If it’s red, the price closed lower than it opened. Think of it as the day’s simple scoreboard: green means the stock finished ahead, red means it fell behind.

You’ll also notice thin lines that can stick out from the top and bottom of the body. These are called wicks or shadows, and they reveal the full drama of the day. The very top of the wick shows the high (the highest price the stock hit that day), and the very bottom shows the low. This tells you how much of a battle there was between buyers and sellers.

In one small shape, a candlestick shows the open, high, low, and close price, plus the overall direction for the day. This gives you a quick sense of the market’s mood and volatility. But when you have hundreds of these daily stories in a row, how do you spot the real, underlying trend? For that, we need a way to smooth out the noise.

How to See the Real Trend: Smoothing the Bumps with a Moving Average

All those individual candlesticks, with their daily ups and downs, can make a chart look like a chaotic scribble. To cut through that noise, analysts use a simple tool called a moving average. Its only job is to smooth out the bumps and show the underlying trend more clearly. Think of it like the weather: while the temperature jumps up and down each day, the monthly average tells you if the season is truly getting warmer or colder. A moving average does the same for a stock’s price.

On the chart, you’ll see this as a single, smooth line flowing through the candlesticks. A popular version is the 50-day moving average, which simply calculates the average closing price of WMT stock over the last 50 trading days. By plotting this average day after day, it creates a clean line that reveals the stock’s general direction, free from the distraction of daily volatility.

So, how do you use this for a quick read? A simple rule of thumb is to see where the candlesticks are in relation to the moving average line. When Walmart’s stock price is consistently trading above it, that suggests the trend has been positive. Conversely, if the price falls and stays below the line, it can indicate that momentum has shifted downward, giving you instant context on the stock’s recent performance.

Why Did WMT’s Price Jump? Connecting the Chart to Real-World News

A chart tells you what happened with a stock’s price, but the most interesting part is understanding why. Those sudden, dramatic jumps or drops you see aren’t random; they are almost always a reaction to new information. So, what kind of news is powerful enough to move the needle for a giant like Walmart?

Often, the biggest catalyst is the company’s quarterly earnings report. Think of this as Walmart’s financial report card, released four times a year. It tells the public exactly how much revenue the company generated, how much profit it made, and how it expects to perform in the future. This news has a direct impact on how investors feel about owning a piece of the company.

When Walmart announces better-than-expected earnings, investors typically react with excitement. You can see this moment unfold right on the chart. It often appears as a long green candlestick—showing a significant price jump—paired with an unusually tall volume bar below it. That spike in volume confirms the move was significant, like a loud cheer from a massive crowd.

By connecting major headlines, like a strong Walmart earnings report, to the activity on the chart, you’re no longer just looking at lines. You’re beginning to read the story of the company’s health and investor confidence. This is the key to understanding not just that the price moved, but the fundamental reason behind it.

Is WMT a Good Long-Term Investment? What a 10-Year Chart Reveals

While daily news can create exciting spikes, the real story of a company’s strength is often told over years, not hours. To see this bigger picture, investors “zoom out” to a long-term chart, like one spanning 10 years. This view smooths out the day-to-day noise, revealing the stock’s overall trajectory and its resilience through different economic cycles. It helps answer a crucial question: has the company shown steady growth over time?

Of course, “good” growth is relative. How do we know if Walmart’s performance was truly impressive? We compare it to a benchmark. A common benchmark is the S&P 500, which is simply an index that represents the performance of 500 of the largest U.S. companies. Think of it as the average grade for the entire class. By plotting Walmart’s stock against the S&P 500 on the same chart, you can instantly see if it has outperformed or underperformed the market as a whole.

When looking at Walmart’s price history, you may notice a sudden, sharp drop in early 2024. This wasn’t a crash. It was a stock split. Imagine a pizza representing the company’s total value; a split is like cutting that pizza into more, smaller slices. The amount of pizza doesn’t change, just the size and price of each slice.

This adjustment makes shares more affordable for smaller investors and doesn’t change the company’s overall value. Importantly, historical charts are adjusted to account for splits, ensuring the long-term trend line remains accurate and isn’t misinterpreted as a sudden loss in value. This allows for a true “apples-to-apples” comparison over the decade.

How a Quick Competitor Check-Up Puts WMT’s Price in Context

While comparing Walmart to the market average (like the S&P 500) shows its performance against the “whole class,” a more direct WMT vs. TGT stock analysis provides different clues. Placing Walmart’s chart next to a direct competitor like Target helps you spot industry-wide trends. If both stocks dip simultaneously, it might signal bad news for the entire retail sector. If only Walmart moves, the reason is likely specific to the company itself.

However, just looking at two different price charts isn’t a true “apples-to-apples” comparison. One company’s share might be $60 and the other $140, but that doesn’t automatically mean one is a better value. To dig deeper, we need to see how a stock’s price relates to the company’s actual profitability.

A simple but powerful metric for this is the Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratio. Don’t let the name intimidate you; think of it as a basic “price tag” that shows how expensive a stock is relative to the profit the company generates. A P/E ratio of 25, for example, means investors are currently paying $25 for every $1 of the company’s annual earnings.

Looking at the WMT price-to-earnings ratio and comparing it to Target’s gives you crucial context. A higher P/E often suggests that investors are more optimistic and expect faster growth from that company in the future. It’s a key metric that helps you understand not just the price, but the value investors see behind it.

You Can Now Read the Story of a Stock: What to Watch for Next

That jagged line on the screen is no longer a mystery. Where you once saw a confusing squiggle of data, you can now decode the story of a company’s health. By understanding how price, volume, and the underlying trend work together, you’ve gained a powerful new form of financial literacy.

Now, put that knowledge into practice. The next time you see a major news story about Walmart, pull up its chart. Look for a spike in volume or a change in the price trend. See the news reflected in the data.

You’re no longer just a spectator; you’re reading the market’s reaction. This isn’t about a perfect WMT stock forecast for 2025, but about understanding the story today. You’ve taken your first, most important step in understanding the language of business.