Target and Walmart have long duked it out for the U.S.’s budget-conscious shopper, with Target skewing a bit more to discretionary “fun” items and Walmart to low-price staples. Though both chains thrived during the pandemic as people consolidated their shopping at fewer chains, Walmart pulled away from Target in 2022 and has never looked back.
On Wednesday, Target reported that comparable sales were down 2.7% last quarter. Today, Wall Street analysts expect Walmart’s U.S. comparable sales to increase 3.8%.
Interestingly, one of the departing CEOs is leaving his company’s board in 2026, while the other is staying on as executive chair, meaning he will be even more powerful than he was as CEO.
You might think McMillon is the one sticking around to guide successor John Furner, who has an impressive track record as CEO of Walmart’s U.S. division. But no, Cornell is the one being elevated to a role with no defined term limit, overseeing his successor and current operations chief, Michael Fiddelke, even as both executives ultimately bear significant responsibility for Target’s current travails.
That a CEO like McMillon, whose leadership style will be taught in business schools, can step down without causing investor panic shows how well Walmart has managed its succession planning and developed a deep bench.
