Walmart launched a joint membership combining Walmart+ and Sam's Club Plus for $120 a year, which it says saves shoppers about $100 compared with buying them separately. The bundle includes members-only discounted prices at Sam's Club, free delivery from both retailers, a Peacock or Paramount+ subscription, and 10 cents off gas at 17,000 U.S. stations. The move follows Walmart's August price cuts on a range of products, as the retailer bets low prices will draw inflation-weary shoppers, with the Consumer Price Index rising 3.7% annually in September. A CBS News poll found nine in 10 Americans say prices are the most important factor shaping their economic outlook.
Summary written by Upside AI from the original article. Read the source for full details.
Read the original on cbsnews.com ↗
Keywords
Open a keyword to see other news on the same topic.
Related news
- Inflation Just Hit 3.7%. Here's Why Walmart and Costco Could Be the Biggest Winners.
The US Consumer Price Index rose 3.7% over the 12 months ending in September, up from 3.4% in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Gasoline was the biggest driver, up 9.1% for the month and 34.2% over the year, while core inflation was 2.6%. Food away from home rose 3.5% over the year, faster than the 1.8% increase in food bought to cook at home. The article argues Walmart (WMT) and Costco (COST) benefit from thin markups and value pricing, with Costco's fiscal fourth-quarter sales up 11.2% to $93.9 billion and Walmart's revenue up 5.9% to $187.9 billion. Walmart trades above its own five-year median on forward earnings, while Costco is near its historical average, and the author says neither is a bargain.
- Walmart launches joint membership with Sam Club
- Walmart enlists Sam’s Club in latest challenge to Amazon Prime
- Walmart launches joint membership with Sam's Club as it leans into delivery, gas discounts
Walmart has launched a joint membership combining Walmart+ and Sam's Club Plus for $120 per year, nearly $100 less than buying both annual memberships separately, though no monthly payment option is offered. The package includes free delivery from both chains, a Peacock or Paramount+ subscription, gas savings and 2% Sam's Club cash on eligible purchases. The move aims to win over cash-strapped shoppers facing high gas and food prices, while letting Sam's Club bulk buying complement Walmart's everyday essentials shopping. Walmart said its global membership revenue rose 17% in the fiscal second quarter, and Sam's Club's grew 6%.
- Amazon blocks agentic AI shopping. But Walmart is betting big that it's worth saying yes.
A Bank of America note led by Christopher Nardone, published Monday, argues Walmart stands to benefit if shoppers hand purchases to AI agents, citing its integration with multiple AI ecosystems, its own shopping assistant “Sparky” and partnerships including Meta's Muse. Walmart, Best Buy (BBY) and Ulta (ULTA) are among Muse's key partners, while some other retailers have blocked it. Amazon has blocked Muse from making purchases on its site and bars automated shopping tools, though it may not be losing much in sales since most people use AI mainly for research. Walmart's management, however, cannot say how popular shopping agents will become, and it is unclear how advertising, a growing business for Walmart, would be affected if screenless computers handle checkout.
- Walmart goes on offense to win the subscription space, offering new bundle for one price
Walmart is bundling Walmart+ and Sam's Club Plus into one annual plan priced at $120 plus tax, available only yearly with no monthly option or trial. Purchased separately, Walmart+ costs $98 a year or $12.95 a month, and Sam's Club Plus costs $120 a year. The move comes as Walmart (WMT) reported its slowest US same-store sales growth since Q4 2020, at 2.6%, and seeks to win back share from rivals including Target (TGT), Amazon (AMZN), Costco (COST) and BJ's (BJ). Bank of America analyst Christopher Nardone said Walmart+ members spend about 4x more than non-members, and Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to Buy. All employees will now receive both Walmart and Sam's Club memberships as a benefit.
Related markets
Latest news
- Wallet Linked to Drift Exploit Sends $61 Million in Ethereum to Tornado Cash
Wallets linked to Drift's April 1 exploit moved about 25,700 Ethereum, worth roughly $61.56 million, into the Tornado Cash mixer over about two hours on Tuesday. Arkham data shows 71 addresses tied to the attacker still hold 81,454 ETH, worth about $198.58 million, after an earlier 23,095 ETH transfer in July. The attacker gained admin powers, introduced a fake token and used it to borrow real liquidity from Drift's Solana vaults, in an exploit totaling $295 million. Drift opened claims for its DFX recovery token on Oct. 1, and early redeemers received roughly 0.0104 USDT per token, about a penny per dollar lost.
- Meta vs. Alphabet: Meta Is Better Built for AGI
The Motley Fool compares Alphabet and Meta using its AIball scores, which measure how exposed a company is to AI and how much upside it has, and concludes Meta is better built for AGI. Roughly 98% of Meta's 2025 revenue came from ads that reach people while they chat or scroll, activities AI agents are unlikely to take over, and its average price per ad rose 12% in Q2 2026. Alphabet's search ads are more exposed because AI assistants can answer queries and act on them directly. However, Alphabet's TPU chips and Google Cloud, which brought in $20 billion in Q1 2026 and serve nine of the top 10 AI labs, give it a strong AI chokepoint position. Its cloud gains could still outweigh pressure on search ads if outside developers cannot get enough rival chips and power.
- Why Anthropic's $80.7B in net losses shouldn't worry IPO investors
A Yahoo Finance video features B. Riley Wealth Chief Market Strategist Art Hogan discussing Anthropic's (ANTH.PVT) reported IPO draft. The draft reportedly discloses about $80.7 billion in net losses for the first half of 2026.
- Corporate bond yields near peak
New corporate bond issuance rates in Q3 rose 2.5% from the 2025 low to nearly 9.5% a year, approaching the 2022-2023 peak, according to S&I Ratings. Banks averaged about 8.85% a year, above their 8.7% average in 2022, and Sacombank issued bonds at a fixed 10%. Real estate and some other sectors saw average new-issue rates climb to 12.5-13% a year, still below the 14-14.5% earlier peak, while Khai Hoan Land and Tandoland paid over 13%. For the first nine months, new issuance totalled VND 464,100 billion, and outstanding bonds rose 7.1% from end-2025 to VND 1.54 quadrillion. Fiin Ratings expects funding costs to stay flat in Q4, while S&I Ratings warns high rates could persist into at least the first half of 2027, pressuring issuers with heavy leverage.
- How major US stock indexes fared Tuesday 10/20/2026
U.S. stocks mostly rose on Tuesday after strong earnings from Equifax, Hasbro and other companies, while oil prices eased after nearing their highest level since the war with Iran began. Brent crude fell below $109 a barrel after nearing $112 in the morning. The S&P 500 gained 0.3% to 7,712.57, and the Dow rose 1% to 52,495.88, while the Nasdaq composite slipped less than 0.1% as drops in Apple and Meta Platforms weighed on big tech. The Russell 2000 rose 1.7%, and the S&P 500 is up 12.7% for the year.
- Chevron Is Pouring Billions Into Venezuela. Here's the 1 Number Investors Should Watch.
Chevron plans to invest more than $7 billion in Venezuela over the next five years, after securing improved commercial and legal terms for its joint ventures and additional acreage in the Orinoco Belt. The article says the key figure to watch is the production target of 600,000 barrels per day, more than double 2026 output, as its three joint ventures produced about 280,000 barrels per day in the second quarter of 2026, up 15% from the prior six months. The roughly 320,000 barrels per day of added output could represent about $8.2 billion in annual gross oil sales at an illustrative $70 per barrel, before operating costs, government payments and ownership stakes. Chevron expects production costs to stay below $20 per barrel, but political, regulatory and infrastructure risks remain significant. The target equals roughly 8% of Chevron's more than 4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, although its actual share would be smaller because it does not fully own the joint ventures.
Get the briefing on Telegram or Zalo
Join the Upside Telegram channel or Zalo group for the Vietnam stocks and gold briefing at 8:00 and 19:00 (Vietnam time) on trading days, plus a weekly wrap on Saturday morning.