In the first trading session since President Trump announced his massive tariffs program, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 3%, with many retailers seeing double-digit percentage drops. But Walmart saw its shares dip less than 1% by early Thursday afternoon and Costco's even rise a touch.
The reasons for that are simple: Walmart, as the world's largest retailer, and Costco, America's second largest, have the wherewithal to offload a big chunk of the higher costs to suppliers. And with their low prices and focus on everyday essentials, both are poised to take additional market share from rivals that depend much more on discretionary spending like Target and Macy's.
