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Amazon vs. Wal-Mart - My Annual Comparison

Here is a high-level comparison of Amazon to Wal-Mart. Note that Amazon uses a calendar year, while Wal-Mart uses a traditional retail fiscal calendar ending January 31 st . I’ve compiled some numbers and ratios from each company for their respective fiscal year periods that include most or all of 2014. Therefore this comparison is slightly off. However, the comparison does include the traditional peak seasons of back-to-school and Christmas in both. To make my job easier, I’m listing Wal-Mart first each time in the following comparisons. Revenue: (in billions) Absolute:  $485.6 vs. $89.0 Revenue Growth $:  $9.4 vs. $14.5 Revenue Growth %:  2.0% vs. 19.5% There is no question that the clear growth winner is Amazon – adding $5.1 bil more in revenue in the last twelve months despite Wal-Mart’s base size advantage.  And the rate of growth is indeed impressive at almost 10X Wal-Mart’s. Operating income: (in billions) Absolute: $27.1 vs. $0.2 Operating income growth