Sam’s Club Continues Chinese Expansion as Consumer Revival Begins to Stir

Walmart’s (WMT) Sam’s Club is set to open new stores in China next month as it looks to take advantage of a Chinese consumer revival.

Chinese Opening Drive

It is understood that Sam’s Club, which has around 64 stores in China, will be opening at least two new stores in Shandong Province in May with another outlet under construction in Liaoning Province.

Earlier this month, it announced the opening of a second club in Wuxi, representing the 11th Sam’s Club in Jiangsu Province.

It follows a national government push to expand domestic retail demand and “unlock consumption potential.” Indeed, this year’s government work report put “building a robust domestic market” first among its major tasks for 2026. It said China will implement initiatives to upgrade consumer services, and move faster to nurture new areas of consumption growth.

It is already seeing signs of success with China’s retail sales of consumer goods growing 2.4% year on year in the first quarter of 2026.

Walmart Seeing Strong Interest

One of the new stores in Shandong’s capital city of Jinan is reportedly already attracting strong interest ahead of its May launch.

According to Chinese media, membership registration for the store started in January, and two cloud warehouses were put into operation ahead of schedule in late February. Its one-hour delivery service also officially went online.

The demand for Sam’s Club and Walmart in China is already clear. According to the company’s most recent Q4 results, Walmart China’s net sales reached $6.1 billion, up 19.3% year on year, while e-commerce net sales rose 28% and accounted for more than half of total sales.

Is WMT a Good Stock to Buy Now?

On TipRanks, WMT has a Strong Buy consensus based on 28 Buy and 2 Hold ratings. Its highest price target is $150. WMT stock’s consensus price target is $139.04, implying a 6.66% upside.