Wal-Mart de México S.A.B. de C.V

What it is

Walmex sells groceries and household goods across six countries: Mexico plus Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. It runs roughly 4,200 stores and clubs under names like Bodega Aurrerá, Walmart and Sam’s Club.

It is the largest retailer in Latin America, and the biggest piece of Walmart outside the United States. Lately it has grown beyond shelves: it operates Walmart, Sam’s Club and Bodega Aurrera stores across six countries, and now sells mobile phone service through Bait and digital payments through Cashi.

Who owns it

The American parent, Walmart Inc., controls Walmex. The structured data shows insiders hold about 71.5% of the shares – effectively Walmart’s stake – which matches the parent’s roughly 70% control reported elsewhere.

That leaves a free float of close to 29% trading on the Mexican exchange, with big funds holding about 13.3%. So most owners are along for the ride; Walmart sets the direction.

Who runs it

The chief executive is Cristian Barrientos Pozo. Walmex named him Executive President and CEO of Walmart Mexico and Central America after he had served as interim chief since early August, having previously run Walmart Chile.

He took over in an unsettled moment: his predecessor Ignacio Caride resigned unexpectedly for personal reasons just over a year into the job. The board chairman is Guilherme Loureiro, a former Walmex CEO who now is regional CEO for Walmart Canada, Chile, Mexico, and Central America.

The finance chief (CFO) is Paulo García.

The money, in plain words

Walmex is enormous but thin-margined, as discounters are. It keeps under 5 cents of profit from every peso of sales – a net profit margin of about 4.9% (our calculation) – which is normal for a business that wins on low prices and high volume.

Where it shines is efficiency with owners’ money. For every peso shareholders have invested, it earns about 20 back a year – a return on equity of 20.2%, strong.

Sales grew from MXN 282,849 (US$16 k)M in the fourth quarter of 2025, up 3.0% year over year, with full-year revenue near MXN 1,011bn (US$58.2bn), up about 5.6% on the prior year (our calculation).

Investors pay 17.6 times yearly profit for the shares – a price-to-earnings ratio that is neither cheap nor stretched for a steady regional leader. The dividend yield is about 2.3%.

What it is doing now

Walmex is spending heavily to reach more homes. On March 25 it announced a 43 billion peso capital program for 2026, about US$2.4 billion and a 10 percent increase over 2025, with CEO Barrientos saying the company aims to reach 99 percent of Mexican households within three years, up from about 75 percent today.

Its newer businesses are growing fast. Bait, its mobile phone service, reached 26.6 million active users, generating revenues of 3.4 billion pesos in the quarter, up 48% versus the prior year.

The latest quarter was soft on the top line. Walmex reported a net profit of MX$12.5 billion (US$697 million) in the first quarter of 2026, with consolidated revenue of MX$245.02 billion (US$14.1 billion).

That revenue trailed the MXN 269.96bn (US$15.5 bn) forecast by LSEG analysts.

What to watch

• Whether the Bodega Aurrerá discount push and new stores lift sales while keeping margins steady.
• Central America’s weak spot: results are heavily affected by Costa Rica’s deflationary and competitive pressures; excluding Costa Rica the region would have grown 6.7%.
• Whether Bait, Cashi and the Walmart Connect ad business keep growing fast enough to add higher-margin income.

This is news, not investment advice.