We recently compiled a list of the 7 Best Stocks to Buy for Long Term. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) stands against the other stocks.

Market Strategist Says The Economy May Re-Accelerate on its Own

On September 23, Chris Watling, Longview Economics founder, CEO, and chief market strategist, appeared in an interview on Yahoo Finance to discuss the rate easing path and the impact it may have on the market.

According to Walting, the market is deeply divided on not two but three different sides. While some analysts and investors foresee a recession, others believe the economy is going towards a soft landing, and of those a small minority believe that the economy may accelerate at a rapid pace. Walting also added that while predicting the appropriate terminal rate is interesting, there is a lot more going on with the economy. Comparing economic conditions to the 2008 recession, households and corporations are in much better shape, hinting that a recession may not be the most likely outcome.

He believes that the economy may be slowing right now but it may experience faster reacceleration than before without the need for further falls. His advice to investors is to judge the economy based on multiple data points. As for the appropriate portfolio, Walting suggests that bonds are overcooked and gold must be given a pause. At the moment, the market is rotating away from tech into defensive sectors, and in the future, it may rotate more towards cyclical stocks.

The Fed is Thinking About Growth

As the S&P 500 recorded an upside following the Fed’s easing cycle, investors and analysts alike eye a soft landing for the economy. On September 26, Liz Miller, Summit Place Financial Advisors founder and president, appeared in an interview on Yahoo Finance to discuss the future of markets.

Miller states that the pivot has been great for the financial markets and now that the Fed is thinking about growth, investors are hopeful of a soft landing. She suggests that stocks in sectors such as housing, rental, finance, and consumer goods may benefit immensely from the easing interest rate cycle.

Miller suggests that the S&P 500 is not the best way to measure the performance of financial markets, given that it is skewed to the mega-cap tech stocks. Looking at other indices, other sectors have not made highs since December 2021. She believes the market may be flat but there is huge potential for upsides. Miller shares concerns over the Chinese economy and how it influences the global outlook. She suggests that for the global economy to balance, companies must work to regain consumer confidence in China.

Now that we have studied the appropriate portfolio mix for investors following the Fed’s decision, let’s take a look at the 7 best stocks to buy for the long term.

Our Methodology 

To come up with the 7 best stocks to buy for the long term we examined promising stocks hedge funds are piling into. These are blue chip stocks with wide moats and have long track records of driving shareholder returns. We have ranked the stocks in ascending order of the number of hedge funds that have stakes in them, as of Q2 2024.

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 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 95

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is one of the biggest retail companies in the world and one of the best stocks to buy for the long term. It operates retail outlets, wholesale units, and e-commerce sites in more than 20 countries that serve more than 240 million customers every week.

The company has remarkably high speeds of delivery due to its massive network. It currently operates 210 distribution centers and has a private fleet of 9,000 tractors, 80,000 trailers, and 11,000 drivers, all of which enabled the company to deliver 30% of orders within 3 hours over the past 12 months in the United States.

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is consistently improving, and we say that because of its investments in technology and expansion. In FQ1 2025, the company launched an AI-backed platform allowing customers to receive product recommendations based on their likes and dislikes. As for its brick-and-mortar stores, by the end of FY 2026, the company expects more than half of its stores and fulfillment centers to be automated.

Walmart is also a favorite among sellers, as evidenced by a 36% growth in sellers on its marketplace in the fiscal first quarter of 2025. In addition to that, the company is on track to add a staggering $130 billion in sales if it achieves its 4% sales growth target over the next five years. Such can be attributed to the company’s initiatives for sellers on the Walmart Marketplace. At the end of August, Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) announced new categories, established personalized omnichannel experiences, and advanced its digital and fulfillment capabilities, improving the overall seller experience.

Over the past four quarters, the Walmart Marketplace has achieved over 30% sales growth, contributing to its ranking on our list. As the demand for online retail grows, so will Walmart’s position in the market.

Overall WMT ranks 5th on our list of the best stocks to buy for long term. While we acknowledge the potential of WMT as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. 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 the cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.