Walmart joins Meta's Muse AI commerce partnerships

Meta announced Muse partnerships with 20 large retailers, including Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ: WMT), to accelerate agentic shopping processes. Burke Wealth Management disclosed this development in its Q3 2026 investor letter for the Focused Growth Strategy fund.

The investment firm attributed the fund's strong third-quarter performance partly to a reassessment of enterprise software platforms that connect AI models with proprietary business data. The composite returned 10.8% net of fees in the quarter, outperforming the S&P 500 Total Return Index's 2.3% gain. Year-to-date, the fund returned 20.0%, compared with a 12.7% gain for the benchmark. The firm views these platforms as essential AI harnesses that provide permissions, security, and context for enterprise applications, though it cautions that AI agents could challenge traditional seat-based pricing models.

Walmart operates discount stores, supermarkets, and e-commerce platforms while expanding its digital and advertising businesses. As of October 23, 2026, Walmart shares closed at approximately $119.89 per share, giving the company a market capitalization of about $954.07 billion. Over the last 52 weeks, the stock traded between $98.88 and $135.16, with a one-month return of 10.74%.

Data from Insider Monkey indicates that Walmart holds the 31st position on a list of the 40 most popular stocks among hedge funds heading into 2026. At the end of the second quarter, 111 hedge fund portfolios held Walmart shares, up from 99 in the previous quarter. Despite this institutional interest, Burke Wealth Management expressed a belief that some AI stocks offer greater promise for delivering higher returns within a shorter timeframe than Walmart does.

Burke Wealth Management expects continued earnings expansion and a shift toward deployed AI applications that enhance operational efficiency and user interactions for the rest of 2026.