Do we like Walmart?
World's biggest retailer: supermarkets, discount stores, Sam's Club and online shopping. Based in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Our score: 5 out of 10. Mixed. Walmart has real climate work and charity giving. It also keeps paying out over how it treats delivery drivers, customer data and opioid prescriptions. We'd hold back.
Walmart is the giant of retail, run from Bentonville, Arkansas. John Furner started as an hourly associate in 1993 and has been President and CEO since February 2026, according to Walmart's SEC filings. Its proxy statement says he came up through Walmart U.S., Sam's Club and international roles.
The biggest recent drama is the Spark Driver case. In February 2026 the FTC and 11 states alleged Walmart showed delivery drivers inflated base pay and tip amounts. Walmart agreed to a $100 million judgment to settle. Under the filings, it did not admit liability, and about $63 million of the judgment was suspended.
Privacy and pharmacy have also caused trouble. LA County settled claims that Walmart passed customers' purchase details to advertisers through tracking tools on its website. Separately, the Justice Department announced a $50 million settlement over allegations that Walmart pharmacies filled invalid opioid prescriptions. The DOJ says these are allegations only, with no finding of liability.
On the green side, Walmart launched Project Gigaton in 2017 to get suppliers to cut emissions. The Environmental Defense Fund says Walmart hit its 1-billion-ton goal six years early. EDF also notes it relies on suppliers' self-reported data. Trellis reports Walmart's overall indirect emissions still rose about 3 percent, so the results are mixed.
We land in the middle at 5. There is real scale in the climate work and in giving. But regulators keep finding problems with how it treats drivers, customer data and pharmacy compliance. We'd want to see a few clean years before backing it.