We recently published a list of 10 Best Low Volatility Stocks to Buy Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) stands against other best low volatility stocks to buy now.
The US stock market experienced a turbulent first quarter of 2025, marked by increased volatility and negative returns across the major indices. Uncertainty surrounding the performance of technology stocks, economic data, and trade tensions caused market volatility.
The year began with the revelation of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) software developed in China called DeepSeek. The innovative AI rivalled its US competitors, such as ChatGPT, and was considered revolutionary compared to others, sending shockwaves across the global markets. Reuters reported a global investor sell-off across US indexes, with one of the major tech companies alone losing $593 million in one day. The US government was quick to implement policies aimed at promoting US-listed tech firms, while simultaneously reducing the impact of DeepSeek AI, such as the use of tariffs against trade with Chinese firms.
In February of 2025, the US government’s first round of Tariffs was aimed directly at China in an effort to curb the impact of DeepSeek on the United States’ tech industry. In March, President Trump announced a rate of 54% tariff on Chinese goods, while China retaliated with 34% tariffs on US goods and services. As reported by CNBC, the total tariffs applied on Chinese goods by the United States stand at 145%, as of April 11, 2025, with exemptions on specific sectors such as Technology, Automobiles & Smart Phones. China implemented retaliatory trade tariffs of 125% on American goods and services.
Due to this economic landscape, the uncertainty surrounding interest rates added to market volatility. The Federal Reserve announced it would maintain interest rates between 4.25% and 4.50%. Speaking at a dinner at the Economic Club of Chicago, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated:
“For the time being, we are well positioned to wait for greater clarity before considering any adjustments to our policy stance.”
The US economy is considered to be entering “continuous stagflation”, which is defined as continued inflation with very low growth and high unemployment. The Cboe Volatility Index (aka VIX) is one of the indicators that the Fed monitors as part of the broader tools available to assess market conditions. A VIX of 20 or higher suggests a higher-than-normal level of expected price fluctuations. The VIX is currently at 32.64%.
The current market suggests that investors might want to lean toward low-risk stocks to avoid potential financial pitfalls. Low-volatility stocks are currently outpacing the broader market and proving their strength during uncertain times. After two lackluster years, this strategy has emerged as the top-performing investment theme of 2025 among the 13 tracked by Bloomberg Intelligence. Joe Gilbert, portfolio manager at Integrity Asset Management, made the following comment about the low risk stocks:
“Investors are going to have to live with volatility at least for the remainder of this year. The lower volatility names are the place for investors to hide.”
Our Methodology
In this article, we researched the 20 Companies with the lowest 5-year beta (monthly) between 0.2 and 0.8, using the Yahoo Finance stocks screener. Next, we used Insider Monkey’s Q4 2024 proprietary hedge fund holdings database and identified the 10 most popular hedge fund stocks. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of their hedge fund positions.
At Insider Monkey, we are obsessed with hedge funds. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
A manager standing in a hypermarket, pointing out items available for wholesale.
Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)
5-Year Monthly Beta: 0.69
No. of Hedge Fund Holders: 116
Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is a multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores, and grocery stores, with operations across numerous countries. The company’s business model focuses on providing a wide range of merchandise at low prices.
Rising fears of inflation among cost-conscious consumers in the United States can lead to declines in consumer buying, which will undoubtedly impact Walmart Inc.’s (NYSE:WMT) topline. The company is largely a brick-and-mortar model, but is taking steps to diversify into a digital model. The company is enhancing its customer experience by integrating AI-powered personalization features, alongside user-friendly updates like social commerce functionalities and streamlined payment options. It is also expanding its brand “SAM’s Club” into China and India, two large online consumer markets.
Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) strives to maintain its low-price strategy, however, the imposition of trade tariffs, particularly between the United States and China, will have a notable impact on retailers like Walmart due to its extensive global supply chains, as many of the goods sold by the company are sourced from overseas, and tariffs on these imports can lead to increased costs. Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) demonstrated a strong financial performance in Q4 FY25, with total revenues up by 4.1% (5.3% on a constant currency basis). Operating income grew by 8.3% (9.4% adjusted, constant currency). E-commerce sales increased by 16%, driven by store-fulfilled pickup and delivery. WMT is one of the best low volatility stocks to monitor.
Overall, WMT ranks 3rd on our list of best low volatility stocks to buy now. While we acknowledge the potential of WMT, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than WMT but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
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