Finance

Walmart Takes the Crown: 2024 Yahoo Finance Company of the Year

Walmart (WMT), now entering its seventh decade, is experiencing a resurgence.

Once perceived as lagging in technology adoption as Amazon (AMZN) rose to dominance, the retail giant has quietly made significant investments across areas such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality, same-day delivery, and affordable groceries. This strategic shift has led to nearly four consecutive quarters of record earnings, earning Walmart the title of Yahoo Finance's 2024 Company of the Year. The Yahoo Finance editorial board selected Walmart for its impressive sales and profit growth, financial outperformance relative to competitors like Target (TGT), and a stock price that has hit new highs in 2024.

"I'm typically a conservative, play-it-safe type of person," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon shared in an exclusive interview at a Walmart supercenter near the company's Bentonville, Ark., headquarters.

"But to achieve the change we needed, we had to take risks — through acquisitions and major investments. At times, those risks have been daunting, but I've learned to embrace them more quickly than I used to."

McMillon, who started his career at Walmart loading trucks as a teenager before rising to become the head of the nation's largest retailer, is pushing forward as the company faces a complex 2025. Over the years, some at Walmart have even likened McMillon to company founder Sam Walton — a comparison McMillon humbly rejects.

Still, McMillon’s vision has propelled Walmart to the top of the Yahoo Finance stock charts, even as broader consumer sentiment struggles with inflation and the company faces challenges like the controversial return-to-office mandate and scaling back on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts.

TECH

UK Proposes New Law Allowing Tech Firms to Use Copyrighted Works for AI Training

Campaigners advocating for the rights of creatives have strongly criticized a UK government proposal that would allow artificial intelligence companies to train their algorithms using copyrighted works, under a new copyright exemption.

Book publishers have called the proposal, released for consultation on Tuesday, “untested and unsupported by evidence,” while Beeban Kidron, a crossbench peer working to protect the rights of artists and creatives, expressed her “deep disappointment.”

The proposal would allow tech companies to use copyrighted material to train AI models without permission, unless individual creators or companies opt out of the process.

This move aims to address the ongoing standoff between AI firms and the creative industries. Sir Paul McCartney has warned that AI could "take over" without new regulations, while the government argues that "legal uncertainty is hindering investment in and adoption of AI technology."

CRYPTO

Crypto Gets What It Wanted in November's Vote—But What Comes After?

Crypto is entering 2025 with impressive momentum. Just one month after Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 US presidential election, Bitcoin surged past the $100,000 mark for the first time, prompting many crypto advocates to declare the start of another major bull run.

This rally feels distinct from the typical boom-and-bust cycles that defined the early years of cryptocurrency. For the first time, the US will have a president who has openly supported cryptocurrencies—and even launched his own token. Trump is already recruiting crypto supporters for key government roles, and his campaign promises at the July Bitcoin Conference, which included the creation of a “strategic national Bitcoin stockpile,” have sparked serious discussions among analysts about whether this could become a reality. Even before the election, major financial players like BlackRock Inc. were launching exchange-traded funds to offer cryptocurrencies through traditional brokerage accounts, broadening access to a wider range of investors. Crypto, once known for its anti-government, anti-establishment stance, has now become part of the establishment itself.