Walmart spent $8.1 billion on share buybacks amid documented worker reliance on public assistance

Summary

Walmart reported spending $8.088 billion repurchasing its own shares during fiscal 2026, nearly doubling the $4.494 billion spent during the previous year. Walmart subsequently authorized a new $30 billion share-repurchase program. Separately, a 2026 U.S. Government Accountability Office investigation found that millions of working American adults rely on Medicaid and SNAP and that some large employers have thousands of beneficiaries among their workforces. The juxtaposition raises concerns about the extent to which public safety-net programs support workers while large corporations return substantial capital to shareholders. Stock repurchases are legal. This evidence record concerns the documented allocation of billions of dollars to shareholders alongside broader public-policy concerns about working adults' reliance on government assistance. It does not characterize the repurchases themselves as unlawful misconduct. Sources / proof: Walmart FY2026 Annual Report: https://stock.walmart.com/_assets/_ef4b3350ef1127ae63b1dd51abb6cf31/walmart/db/950/9988/annual_report/Walmart%2B2026%2BAnnual%2BReport.pdf Walmart FY2026 SEC filing: https://stock.walmart.com/sec-filings/all-sec-filings/content/0000104169-26-000055/wmt-20260131.htm U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-26-108703: https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108703