Walmart Is Sounding Like a Tech Company

Walmart (NYSE: WMT) shares dipped on its fourth-quarter earnings report Thursday.

The company missed analyst estimates on the bottom line and guided toward slow growth this year as it laps a bumper performance in 2020, aided by pandemic-related tailwinds. It also said it would raise wages and called for $14 billion in capital expenditures, up from $10.3 billion last year. The market didn't seem to like the increase in spending.

However, investors may be missing the bigger story here. As a mature company, Walmart's results are scrutinized for things like minor improvements in profitability, but there's something more important happening. The retail giant is rapidly evolving from a brick-and-mortar retailer to a diversified omnichannel business that can be both the world's biggest retailer as well as a provider of high-margin services.

Source Fool.com