TLDR
- Amazon’s annual revenue hit $716.9B, surpassing Walmart’s $713.2B to claim the title of America’s highest-revenue company.
- Year-over-year comparisons show Amazon’s 12.4% revenue expansion dwarfing Walmart’s 4.7% growth, with AWS climbing 20%.
- Value investing legend Seth Klarman allocated approximately $500M to Amazon shares during Q4 2025, elevating it to Baupost’s #2 holding.
- The Baupost chief reduced his Alphabet stake by 41% following a ~65% price surge in 2025, reflecting valuation discipline.
- Amazon projects 11–15% quarterly revenue expansion and has earmarked $200B for capital investments throughout 2026.
Amazon (AMZN) has achieved what once seemed inevitable but never certain — dethroning Walmart from its position as America’s revenue champion after nearly a quarter-century of dominance. What makes this shift even more compelling is that one of the investing world’s most respected value practitioners is placing a major wager on the e-commerce and cloud giant’s future trajectory.
The Seattle-based tech powerhouse posted $716.9 billion in annual revenue for 2025, narrowly eclipsing Walmart’s $713.2 billion. While the difference appears modest on paper, the trend lines tell a more decisive story. Walmart first captured the revenue crown in 2001 after overtaking Exxon Mobil, maintaining that distinction without interruption — until this year.
The velocity of expansion reveals the true picture. Amazon’s top line expanded 12.4% during the year. Walmart managed 4.7%. Should these trajectories persist, the separation between first and second place will only accelerate.
The divergence stems largely from business composition. Walmart generates approximately 90% of its revenue through its physical stores and digital storefront. Amazon taps into a far more diversified revenue stream — marketplace commissions, logistics services, digital advertising, and enterprise cloud infrastructure all contribute meaningfully.
AWS experienced 20% year-over-year expansion and currently represents roughly 18% of Amazon’s aggregate revenue. This high-margin, rapidly scaling division provides Amazon with a competitive advantage in driving overall revenue acceleration.
The company is simultaneously making aggressive moves in physical logistics infrastructure. Amazon is committing $4 billion toward constructing same-day delivery facilities in rural American markets. During 2025, the company extended same-day grocery service to over 2,300 communities, with 100 million customers placing same-day orders throughout the year.
Amazon’s U.S. retail market penetration now stands at approximately 9%, climbing from roughly 6% in the pre-pandemic era. Walmart holds about 7.6% market share, essentially unchanged during that same timeframe.
Seth Klarman’s Big Bet on Amazon
While the revenue achievement dominated business headlines, a noteworthy development was unfolding in institutional positioning around AMZN stock.
Seth Klarman, the founder and portfolio manager of Baupost Group, deployed nearly $500 million into Amazon during the fourth quarter of 2025. This allocation elevated Amazon to Baupost’s second-largest equity holding, comprising 9.3% of total portfolio assets.
Klarman partially financed this position by reducing his Alphabet holdings by 41%. Alphabet’s shares had appreciated approximately 65% throughout 2025, pushing the forward price-to-earnings multiple from around 20 in August to approximately 30 by year-end. For an investor with Klarman’s value-oriented philosophy, such valuation expansion typically diminishes investment attractiveness.
By contrast, Amazon’s stock advanced only 5% during the comparable timeframe. This relative underperformance versus both the broader market and technology peers appears to have created the opportunity that captured Klarman’s interest.
Amazon’s Path Forward
AWS revenue jumped 24% year over year during the fourth quarter. Wall Street analysts anticipate substantial earnings per share acceleration in 2027 as cloud operations achieve greater scale efficiencies. Amazon is projecting 11–15% quarterly revenue growth for the coming period, significantly outpacing Walmart’s 3.5–4.5% guidance.
The company has outlined plans for $200 billion in capital expenditures throughout 2026 to address explosive demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure. Management indicated that AWS demand is currently exceeding available capacity.
Amazon shares are presently trading beneath the price level at which Klarman initiated his Q4 position. Analysts are valuing the stock at approximately 22 times projected 2027 earnings estimates, with consensus earnings growth forecasts hovering around 20%.
