Walmart (NYSE: WMT), one of the largest retailers in the world, has been a reliable stock for long-term investors. Over the past 10 years, it has gained nearly 270% as the broad market S&P 500 index advanced by about 160%. Factoring in reinvested dividends, Walmart's total return was 340% against the S&P 500's total return of 205%. Here are seven reasons it's still worth buying with both hands today.

1. Its consistent comps growth

Walmart's comparable-store sales metric, which gauges the year-over-year growth of stores that have been open for at least 12 months (plus its e-commerce sales), has consistently risen over the past decade. It achieved that sales growth by renovating its stores, rolling out more private label brands, matching Amazon's prices, expanding its e-commerce and digital capabilities, and leveraging its massive network of brick-and-mortar stores to fulfill online orders.

Its Sam's Club chain also grew at a healthy rate, keeping pace with rival Costco (NASDAQ: COST) in the membership-driven warehouse club market. Walmart's international growth slowed down in fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2023 (which ended in January 2023) as it divested some of its weaker overseas businesses, but that streamlined segment flourished over the following two years.

Metric	Fiscal 2021	Fiscal 2022	Fiscal 2023	Fiscal 2024	Fiscal 2025
Walmart U.S. comps growth	8.6%	6.4%	6.6%	5.6%	4.5%
Sam's Club U.S. comps growth	11.8%	9.8%	10.5%	4.8%	5.9%
Walmart International sales growth	1%	(16.8%)	0%	10.6%	6.3%
Total revenue growth	6.7%	2.4%	6.7%	6%	5.1%

Data source: Walmart. Comps growth excludes fuel sales.

Walmart's growth over the past five years shows how resistant it was to inflation, geopolitical conflicts, and other disruptive macro headwinds. For its fiscal 2026 (now underway), it expects its net sales to grow by 3% to 4% on a constant-currency basis.

2. Its stable brick-and-mortar expansion

The total number of Walmart stores worldwide declined from 11,501 at the end of fiscal 2020 to 10,593 at the end of fiscal 2022. However, a large portion of that decline was caused by its overseas divestments.

It has been expanding its footprint steadily since then, and it ended fiscal 2025 with 10,711 physical locations. That stable pace of expansion should help it widen its moat and maintain its lead against its smaller retail competitors.

3. Its gross and operating margins are resilient

Walmart's scale enables it to maintain higher gross and operating margins than many other retailers. While surging inflation squeezed its gross and operating margins in 2022 and the first half of 2023, both figures bounced back in the second half of 2023 and 2024 as those headwinds diminished.

Source: YCharts.

4. It's resistant to tariffs

Those resilient margins suggest that it will be able to resist the impact of President Donald Trump's unpredictable tariffs, even though most of the products it sells are manufactured in China and other Asian countries. Walmart should be better positioned to convince its overseas suppliers to pre-deliver more products to the U.S. warehouses before the larger portion of Trump's tariffs kick back in, leverage its scale to negotiate better prices for its future shipments, have its suppliers absorb some of those higher costs, or pass the costs of tariffs onto consumers by raising its prices. The last solution would certainly be the least preferable for its customers -- but the chain could still sell its products at lower prices than its competitors.

5. It's a Dividend King

Walmart's forward dividend yield of 1% might seem paltry, but it has raised its dividend annually for 52 consecutive years, earning it the title of Dividend King. It also spent just 52% of its free cash flow on its dividend payments over the past 12 months, so it has plenty of capacity to make future hikes.

6. It's still buying back its own shares

Walmart bought back 6% of its outstanding shares over the past five years, 17% of its shares over the past decade, and 36% of its shares over the past 20 years. Its consistent stock buyback policy, combined with its regular dividend hikes, indicates that it's committed to returning a lot of its free cash flow to its investors.

7. It deserves its premium valuations

From fiscal 2025 through fiscal 2028, analysts on average expect its revenue to grow at a compound annual rate of 4% as its EPS increases at a compound annual rate of 11%. Investors should take those estimates with a grain of salt, but they do suggest that Walmart can continue to grow regardless of Trump's tariffs and his escalating trade war, sticky inflation, and other macroeconomic challenges.

That's why Walmart's forward price-to-earnings ratio of 36 doesn't seem too expensive. Costco, which also has plenty of evergreen advantages, trades at 54 times forward earnings. Walmart's stock isn't cheap, but the company's resilience in this rough market justifies its valuation multiple. That's probably why it's still up 6% year to date even as the S&P 500 is down by 7%. Investors who buy the stock today should be well rewarded over the next few years.

Should you invest $1,000 in Walmart right now?

Before you buy stock in Walmart, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Walmart wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $591,533!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $652,319!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 859% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 158% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of April 21, 2025

John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Leo Sun has positions in Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Costco Wholesale, and Walmart. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Webull (NASDAQ: BULL) went public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) on April 11. The online brokerage's stock started trading at $16 that Friday, but it soared to a record closing price of $62.90 the following Monday.

After that dizzying rally, Webull's stock pulled back to around $23. Let's review Webull's business model and see if it's the right time to buy or sell its volatile shares.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

A brief history of Webull

Webull was founded in 2016 as Hunan Fumi Information Technology, a Chinese holding company backed by Xiaomi, Shunwei Capital, and other private equity investors in China. Its founder, Anquan Wang, previously worked at Alibaba.

In 2017, Hunan Fumi launched Webull as a Delaware-based LLC and opened its headquarters New York City. Webull subsequently launched its namesake trading app in 2018, and it incorporated itself as a new company in the Cayman Islands in 2019.

In 2022, Webull moved its headquarters to St. Petersburg, Florida, and restructured its business to separate Hunan Fumi, its original Chinese holding company, from the rest of its growing business. That split paved the way for Webull's recent merger with SK Growth Opportunities, a SPAC affiliated with the South Korean conglomerate SK Group.

Webull is technically a U.S.-based company now, but last November a coalition of states attorneys general launched a probe into its alleged ties to the Chinese government. Those allegations could expose Webull to the same regulatory risks as other Chinese-affiliated apps, including ByteDance's TikTok and PDD's Temu.

How fast is Webull growing?

Webull is similar to Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD). Both companies provide commission-free trades for stocks, ETFs, options, cryptocurrencies, and fixed-income investments on their streamlined mobile apps. However, Webull claims it serves more experienced investors than Robinhood, which carved out its niche by locking in millions of first-time investors.

Both companies generate their revenue with a "payment for order flow" (PFOF) model that routes their clients' brokerage orders through high-frequency trading (HFT) firms in exchange for commissions for each routed order. Both companies also offer paid subscription tiers that offer real-time data and other perks.

Webull operates in 14 markets, and it's a licensed broker-dealer in the U.S., Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, the U.K., the Netherlands, and South Africa. Robinhood is only a licensed broker-dealer in the U.S., the U.K., and Lithuania.

Webull served more than 23.3 million registered users at the end of 2024, but it had only 4.7 million funded accounts with $13.6 billion in customer assets. By comparison, Robinhood served 25.2 million funded customers at the end of 2024 with $193 billion in assets under custody. So while Webull is more globally diversified than Robinhood, it's still a distant underdog.

If we divide their total assets by funded customers, we also see that the average size of a Webull account was only $2,894 at the end of 2024, versus an average account size of $7,659 at Robinhood. That big gap indicates that Webull's customers aren't as affluent as Robinhood's -- even though it argues its a platform for more "experienced" investors.

In 2024, Webull's registered user base grew 18%, its funded accounts increased 9%, and its total assets increased 66%. However, its total revenue stayed nearly flat at $390 million, its operating expenses rose 10% to $404.5 million, and its adjusted operating margin dropped from 13.4% to 4.7%. For reference, Robinhood's revenue surged 58% to $2.95 billion in 2024.

The two reasons to buy Webull... and the four reasons to sell it

The bulls might like Webull for two reasons: It's more geographically diversified than Robinhood, and it's still gaining new users and accounts in those fertile markets.

However, the bears probably think Webull's stock will fizzle out for four reasons. First, its flat top-line growth indicates it's struggling to squeeze more revenue from its existing users. Second, it's never a good sign when the underdog is growing slower than a market leader -- and Webull's metrics look grim compared to Robinhood's. Third, Webull looks overvalued. With a market cap of $10.8 billion, it trades at a whopping 28 times last year's sales. Robinhood, with a market cap of $37.3 billion, trades at 13 times last year's sales. Last but not least, it could be hit by more regulatory probes regarding its links to China.

Therefore, the reasons to sell or avoid Webull easily outweigh the reasons to buy it. If you're interested in investing in a commission-free brokerage, it makes more sense to stick with Robinhood than with its smaller and slower-growing competitor.

Should you invest $1,000 in Webull right now?

Before you buy stock in Webull, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Webull wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $591,533!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $652,319!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 859% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 158% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of April 21, 2025

Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Alibaba Group and Xiaomi. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

BigBear.ai (NYSE: BBAI) and C3.ai (NYSE: AI) both develop artificial intelligence (AI) modules that can be plugged into an organization's existing infrastructure to accelerate and automate certain tasks. BigBear.ai is a smaller company that plugs its modules into edge networks. C3.ai is a larger developer of AI algorithms that can be integrated into an organization's existing software.

Both stocks disappointed their early investors. BigBear.ai's stock opened at $9.84 after it went public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in December 2021, but it now trades at about $2. C3.ai went public via a traditional initial public offering (IPO) at $42 in December 2020, but it trades at around $19 today. Should investors buy either of these out-of-favor AI stocks?

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

The similarities and differences between BigBear.ai and C3.ai

BigBear.ai and C3.ai aren't direct competitors, but they both target government, military, and large enterprise customers.

BigBear.ai's modules ingest data from various sources, enrich and contextualize that data with more layers of information, and leverage that enhanced data to predict future trends. It streamlines that process by installing its Observe, Orient, Predict, and Dominate modules across edge networks, which are located between the data centers and their end users. It sets its prices on a case-by-case basis instead of charging subscription or consumption-based fees.

When BigBear.ai went public, it expected to generate a lot of its future revenue from Virgin Orbit. However, the company only recognized $1.5 million in revenue from that deal in the first quarter of 2023 before Virgin Orbit filed for bankruptcy that April.

C3.ai provides a broader range of modules that ingest data from various sources, and its modules can be installed across on-premise software, edge networks, public cloud services, and hybrid cloud deployments. Its modules can either be integrated into an organization's existing applications or accessed as stand-alone AI services. It initially only offered subscriptions, but it also introduced consumption-based fees in late 2022 to reach more customers.

C3.ai is heavily dependent on a joint venture with energy giant Baker Hughes (NASDAQ: BKR), which was launched in 2019. That partnership accounted for a whopping 35% of its revenue in fiscal 2024 (which ended last April), and its minimum revenue commitments will account for about 32% of its projected revenue for fiscal 2025. However, that crucial deal expires at the end of April and hasn't been renewed yet.

BigBear.ai and C3.ai have both struggled with jarring executive changes. BigBear.ai is now on its third CEO since its public debut. C3.ai is still led by the same CEO, but it's gone through four CFOs since its IPO as it repeatedly changed its key performance metrics. It's also being sued by investors for allegedly misrepresenting the size of its partnership with Baker Hughes.

Which company is growing faster?

BigBear.ai originally claimed it could grow its annual revenue from $182 million in 2021 to $550 million in 2024. But in reality, its revenue only rose from $146 million in 2021 to $158 million in 2024 as its annual net loss more than doubled from $124 million to $257 million.

BigBear.ai missed its own estimates as Virgin Orbit went bankrupt, it faced tougher competition, and the macro headwinds made it tougher to win new contracts. Its revenue rose less than 2% in 2024 -- and most of that growth came from its acquisition of the AI vision company Pangiam in March instead of the organic growth of its core modules.

But for 2025, analysts expect BigBear.ai's revenue to rise nearly 8% to $170 million as it narrows its net loss to $54 million. That growth could be driven by its new government contracts under its new CEO -- Pangiam's former CEO Kevin McAleenan -- who was also previously the Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under the first Trump administration. With a market cap of $731 million, BigBear.ai trades at about 4 times this year's sales.

C3.ai's revenue only rose 6% in fiscal 2023, but grew 16% to $311 million in fiscal 2024 as the market's demand for new AI services heated up. But its net loss widened from $269 million in fiscal 2023 to $280 million in fiscal 2024 as it ramped up its spending on developing new applications for the generative AI market.

For fiscal 2025, analysts expect C3.ai's revenue to rise 25% to $388 million as its net loss widens to $300 million. However, its future beyond fiscal 2025 is hard to predict without knowing the future of its joint venture with Baker Hughes. With a market cap of $2.56 billion, C3.ai looks a bit pricier than BigBear.ai at 7 times this year's sales.

The better buy: BigBear.ai

I wouldn't touch either of these speculative stocks right now. But if I had to choose one, I'd pick BigBear.ai because its customer concentration issues have largely passed and it could gain more government contracts under its new CEO. C3.ai looks uninvestable until it provides more clarity regarding the Baker Hughes deal, widens its moat, and stabilizes its losses.

Should you invest $1,000 in BigBear.ai right now?

Before you buy stock in BigBear.ai, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and BigBear.ai wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $591,533!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $652,319!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 859% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 158% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of April 21, 2025

Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends C3.ai. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Many renewable energy stocks ran out of juice over the past year as the Trump administration embraced fossil fuels and rattled the market with its divisive tariffs. However, that pullback might represent a golden buying opportunity if you expect the market's demand for renewable energy solutions to keep growing over the long term.

So if you're willing to tune out the near-term noise, these three renewable energy plays might generate some big returns from a modest $2,000 investment: NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR), Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG), and CleanSpark (NASDAQ: CLSK). All three of these stocks are speculative, but they could attract a lot more attention if they scale up their businesses.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

The nuclear play: NuScale Power

NuScale develops small modular reactors (SMRs) for nuclear power which can be installed in vessels that are only nine feet wide and 65 feet tall. Its SMRs are also prefabricated, delivered, and assembled on site. Those advantages make them cheaper and easier to deploy than traditional nuclear reactors.

NuScale's SMRs are the only ones that have received a standard design approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), but that approval only covers its reactor clusters that generate up to 55 megawatts of electricity.

For a cluster of SMRs to be more cost-effective than a comparable coal-fired plant, it must generate at least 77 megawatts of electricity. NuScale expects the NRC to approve its 77 megawatt designs this year. Until then, it's generating most of its revenue as a subcontractor on a 462-megawatt power plant project for Romania's RoPower.

NuScale only generated $37 million in revenue in 2024, but analysts expect that figure to surge to $402 million in 2027. That growth could be driven by its new NRC design approvals, more contracts in the U.S., and the soaring energy needs of the booming data center market. With a market cap of $2.06 billion, NuScale already trades at 5 times its 2027 sales -- but it has plenty of room to grow over the next few decades.

The hydrogen play: Plug Power

Plug Power develops hydrogen fuel cell, charging, storage, and transport technologies. It's deployed more than 69,000 fuel cell systems and over 250 fueling stations across the world, and it's the single largest buyer of liquid hydrogen.

Amazon and Walmart, which are invested in Plug Power through stock warrants, are two of its top customers. The two retail giants both use Plug's hydrogen fuel cells to power the electric forklifts in their warehouses.

In 2024, Plug Power's revenue declined 29% to $629 million as its net loss widened from $1.4 billion to $2.1 billion. That slowdown was caused by macro headwinds, which curbed the market's demand for new hydrogen charging projects, and tough comparisons to the inorganic expansion of its smaller cryogenics business in 2022 and 2023.

But from 2024 to 2027, analysts expect Plug's revenue to grow at a CAGR of 32%. That growth could be driven by the stabilization of the hydrogen market, new contracts, and a $1.66 billion loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy for the construction of six green hydrogen manufacturing plants.

Plug Power won't turn profitable anytime soon, but it's been cutting its costs and selling some of its equipment (and leasing it back) to narrow its net losses. With a market cap of $1.2 billion, it trades at just 1.6 times this year's sales -- so any positive developments might drive its stock a lot higher over the next few years.

The clean crypto play: CleanSpark

CleanSpark originally built modular microgrids for wind, solar, and other renewable energy sources. These microgrids can be deployed as stand-alone power systems or plugged into existing energy grids -- where they're used to transfer energy into storage systems, load management solutions, and backup generators.

But four years ago, it acquired the Bitcoin miner ATL Data Centers and upgraded its miners with its microgrids. It subsequently acquired more Bitcoin miners, upgraded their plants in the same way, and mined more Bitcoins. That clean energy approach arguably made it more appealing than its coal-powered competitors.

By the end of calendar 2024, CleanSpark was holding 9,952 Bitcoins -- which are worth $819 million as of this writing. That's 38% of its market capitalization of $2.1 billion. It also expanded its fleet by 127% year over year to 201,808 miners, which increased its operating hashrate (which gauges its mining efficiency) 288% to 39.1 EH/s (exahash per second).

From fiscal 2024 (ended last September) to 2027, analysts expect CleanSpark's revenue to grow from $379 million to $1.1 billion as it narrows its net losses. Assuming it matches those expectations, it still looks reasonably valued at 1.9 times its fiscal 2027 sales. It could certainly struggle if Bitcoin's price plunges, but it could outperform many other traditional Bitcoin miners if the cryptocurrency's price stabilizes, soars higher, and attracts more retail and institutional investors.

Should you invest $1,000 in NuScale Power right now?

Before you buy stock in NuScale Power, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and NuScale Power wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $495,226!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $679,900!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 796% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 155% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of April 10, 2025

John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Leo Sun has positions in Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Bitcoin, and Walmart. The Motley Fool recommends NuScale Power. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.