Walmart+ membership surges to record high in August - Morgan Stanley

Walmart+ membership surged to a record high in August, according to Morgan Stanley's latest AlphaWise survey.

The bank said its finding aligns with Walmart's (NYSE:WMT ) own reports of continued double-digit growth in membership numbers.

The survey reveals that Walmart+ reached approximately 25.9 million members in August, marking a substantial increase from previous months.

Morgan Stanley explained that after adjusting for potential survey response errors, the membership figure stands at around 16.8 million.

"On an absolute basis, our survey points to ~25.9m current members (or ~16.8m after accounting for user response error), which implies ~20% membership penetration of US households (or ~13% after adjusting for response error)," wrote the investment bank.

This represents "the largest sequential increase in membership since the onset of our survey and is ~30% higher than the prior 6-month average," they add.

Morgan Stanley attributes this surge to several factors, including Walmart's recent announcement of a partnership with Burger King.

As noted in the report, "the boost in August could reflect a benefit from WMT's new partnership with Burger King."

The collaboration, which offers Walmart+ members 25% off Burger King digital orders and a free Whopper every three months, was launched on August 22.

The survey, conducted between August 29 and September 2, is said to suggest that while the membership increase may primarily stem from ongoing growth trends, the Burger King deal could have played a role.

Morgan Stanley believes the outsized increase in its survey "is more likely due to a combination of general membership momentum coupled with
volatility in survey responses (making monthly trends less stable)," although they note it is possible the Burger King partnership had an impact as well.

Despite these factors, the growth in Walmart+ membership is seen as a positive sign for Walmart's alternative revenue and profit models.

Source: Investing.com