Retail giant Walmart (WMT) is coming to a sky near you after it ramped up its drone delivery network.
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The group opened the service in Atlanta this week flying from six Supercenter locations in the city.
Drone Expansion Takes Flight
Products available for delivery by drone include grocery items, last-minute gifts, household goods and over-the-counter medicine. Fruit, eggs, pet food, and ice cream are the most commonly drone-delivered items, according to Walmart.
Walmart plans to add drone delivery in five new metro areas and over 100 stores in the U.S. in 2026. The service initially launched in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in 2023 and is also available in Bentonville, Arkansas.
It has promised that customers in Charlotte, North Carolina, Houston, Texas, Orlando and Tampa are next in line.
The group is shipping orders through a partnership with Wing, a subsidiary of Alphabet (GOOGL). The drones reportedly fly at speeds of about 60 miles per hour about 150 feet off the ground and carry packages weighing up to two pounds. Customers order their items for drone delivery through the Wing app.
Average flight times are five minutes or less.
Pushing Tech Boundaries
‘We’re pushing the boundaries of convenience to better serve our customers, making shopping faster and easier than ever before,’ said Greg Cathey, senior vice president of Walmart Transformation and Innovation.
It comes after rival Amazon (AMZN) announced plans to begin testing 30-minute or less deliveries and a $4 billion spend to triple its delivery network by the end of 2025.
The drones are another part of Walmart’s technological transformation. This includes its AI shopping assistant Sparky, AI-powered supply chain services and a partnership with ChatGPT group Open AI.
Walmart is switching its listing to the tech market Nasdaq next week – a further indication of how much its services are flying in a different direction these days.
That’s important given that tech and innovation is a key risk for both the company and investors – see above.
Is WMT a Good Stock to Buy Now?
On TipRanks, WMT has a Strong Buy consensus based on 26 Buy ratings. Its highest price target is $130. WMT stock’s consensus price target is $122, implying a 7.56% upside.
