Why Is Amazon so Much Cheaper Than Walmart and Costco? This Is the Only Answer I Can Think of.

Amazon trades at a lower forward P/E ratio than Walmart and Costco despite stronger growth prospects. The valuation gap reflects investor preferences: Walmart and Costco command premium multiples for predictable, bond-like earnings stability, while Amazon's lower multiple reflects uncertainty around massive AI and cloud infrastructure spending rather than weakness in its business fundamentals.