Walmart's 12-Year Streak in Business Just Ended - Newser

What the report says

Newser reported that Amazon has moved ahead of Walmart on Fortune’s ranking of the largest companies by revenue, ending Walmart’s 12-year run at the top. The accessible Newser page text was limited to site access instructions, but the headline and snippet identify the core development: Amazon is now listed as the world’s biggest company by revenue, displacing its longtime retail rival.

The companies involved are two U.S.-based retail giants with very different business models. Walmart built its scale through a vast store network, grocery sales and global retail operations, while Amazon combines e-commerce, third-party marketplace services, subscriptions, advertising and cloud computing through Amazon Web Services. Fortune’s revenue-based lists generally measure total sales rather than stock market value or profitability, so the ranking highlights operating scale more than investor sentiment.

The change matters because Walmart’s lengthy hold on the top spot had symbolized the dominance of traditional big-box retail. Amazon’s rise reflects the shift in consumer spending and corporate growth toward digital commerce, logistics networks and technology-enabled services, while also underscoring how large Amazon’s retail and services ecosystem has become.

No additional details, such as the exact revenue totals, the full list placement of other companies or Fortune’s publication date, were available in the supplied Newser text. Further confirmation from Fortune’s original ranking would be needed before citing specific figures or broader list changes.