Sifting through countless of stocks in the Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in The Kroger Co. or Walmart Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how The Kroger Co. and Walmart Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About The Kroger Co. and Walmart Inc.

The Kroger Co. operates as a food and drug retailer in the United States. The company operates combination food and drug stores, multi-department stores, marketplace stores, and price impact warehouses. Its combination food and drug stores offer natural food and organic sections, pharmacies, general merchandise, pet centers, fresh seafood, and organic produce; and its multi-department stores provide apparel, home fashion and furnishings, outdoor living, electronics, automotive products, and toys. The company’s marketplace stores offer full-service grocery, pharmacy, health and beauty care, and perishable goods, as well as general merchandise, including apparel, home goods, and toys; and its price impact warehouse stores provide grocery, and health and beauty care items, as well as meat, dairy, baked goods, and fresh produce items. It also manufactures and processes food products for sale in its supermarkets and online; and sells fuel through its fuel centers. The company sells its products through its stores, fuel centers, and online platforms. The Kroger Co. was founded in 1883 and is based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Walmart Inc. engages in the operation of retail and wholesale stores and clubs, ecommerce websites, and mobile applications worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club U.S. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; and ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites. It offers grocery items, including dry grocery, snacks, dairy, meat, produce, deli and bakery, frozen foods, alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, as well as consumables, such as health and beauty aids, pet supplies, household chemicals, paper goods, and baby products; and fuel and other categories. In addition, it is involved in the provision of health and wellness products covering pharmacy, optical and hearing services, over-the-counter drugs, and protein and nutrition products; and home, hardlines, and seasonal items, including home improvement, outdoor living, gardening, furniture, apparel, jewelry, tools and power equipment, housewares, toys, and mattresses. Further, the company offers consumer electronics and accessories, software, video games, office supplies, appliances, and third-party gift cards. Additionally, it operates digital payment platforms; offers financial services and related products, including money transfers, bill payments, money orders, check cashing, prepaid access, co-branded credit cards, installment lending, and earned wage access; and markets lines of merchandise under private and licensed brands. The company was formerly known as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and changed its name to Walmart Inc. in February 2018. Walmart Inc. was founded in 1945 and is based in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Latest Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail and The Kroger Co., Walmart Inc. Stock News

As of September 4, 2026, The Kroger Co. had a $35.9 billion market capitalization, compared to the Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail median of $5.4 million. The Kroger Co.’s stock is down 8.6% in 2026, down 0.7% in the previous five trading days and down 13.64% in the past year.

Currently, The Kroger Co.’s price-earnings ratio is 35.9. The Kroger Co.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $148.6 billion with a 0.7% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 2.2%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $5.211 per share for the current fiscal year. The Kroger Co. currently has a 2.7% dividend yield.

As of September 4, 2026, Walmart Inc. had a $850.0 billion market cap, putting it in the 100th percentile of all stocks. Walmart Inc.’s stock is down 4.7% in 2026, up 1.2% in the previous five trading days and up 6.15% in the past year.

Currently, Walmart Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 38.8. Walmart Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $735.8 billion with a 3.0% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 5.9%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $2.887 per share for the current fiscal year. Walmart Inc. currently has a 0.9% dividend yield.

How We Compare The Kroger Co. and Walmart Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at The Kroger Co. and Walmart Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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The Kroger Co. and Walmart Inc. Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
The Kroger Co.	KR	B
Walmart Inc.	WMT	F

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

The Kroger Co. has a Value Score of 62, which is Value. Walmart Inc. has a Value Score of 20, which is Ultra Expensive.

The Value Stock Winner: The Kroger Co.

As you can clearly see from the Value Grade breakdown above, The Kroger Co. is considered to have better value than Walmart Inc.. For investors who focus solely on a company’s valuation, The Kroger Co. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

The Kroger Co. and Walmart Inc. Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
The Kroger Co.	KR	B
Walmart Inc.	WMT	B

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

The Kroger Co. has a Growth Score of 73, which is Strong. Walmart Inc. has a Growth Score of 78, which is Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Growth Grade breakdown above, both The Kroger Co. and Walmart Inc. have a grade of B. For investors who focus solely on a company’s upward growth, further research should be conducted into both companies’ other financial metrics before deciding whether to invest.

The Kroger Co. and Walmart Inc.’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
The Kroger Co.	KR	D
Walmart Inc.	WMT	D

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

The Kroger Co. has a Momentum Score of 28, which is Weak. Walmart Inc. has a Momentum Score of 36, which is Weak.

The Momentum Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither The Kroger Co. or Walmart Inc. has a strong enough Momentum Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if The Kroger Co. or Walmart Inc. is the better investment when it comes to momentum.

Other The Kroger Co. and Walmart Inc. Grades

In addition to Growth, Momentum and Value, A+ Investor also provides grades for Estimate Revisions and Quality.

Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the ranking of key metrics. Specifically, the quality grade is the percentile rank of the composite of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and F-Score.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether The Kroger Co. and Walmart Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, The Kroger Co. or Walmart Inc. Stock?

Overall, The Kroger Co. stock has a Value Score of 62, Growth Score of 73 and Momentum Score of 28.

Walmart Inc. stock has a Value Score of 20, Growth Score of 78 and Momentum Score of 36.

Comparing The Kroger Co. and Walmart Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.