Walmart vs Target: Which NNN Investment Wins?

Walmart and Target are two big box tenants that appear in net lease listings in net lease, and both carry investment grade ratings: Walmart Inc. is rated AA/Aa2 and Target Corporation is rated A/A2 (S&P / Moody’s ratings on long-term debt). Both ratings sit well above the BBB-/Baa3 threshold, so the credit question is less about whether the tenant clears the line and more about what the rating is attached to. Both companies report owning much of their store base, so a listing for either can be a ground lease or a building lease. In the listings we track, Walmart asks a live median cap rate of 5.13%, versus 5.33% for Target.

This comparison applies the framework from our investment grade guide: credit first, then lease structure, then the real estate. The ratings are the same kind of evidence for both companies, so the differences that matter to a buyer are the lease obligor, the term remaining, the ground lease question and the size of the box.

Walmart vs Target: Head-to-Head Comparison

Ratings per our tenant ratings database. Walmart: Ratings checked October 8, 2026. Target: Ratings checked October 8, 2026. Store counts, ownership counts and revenue are from the companies’ Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings as labeled. Median asking cap rates, cap rate counts, average remaining terms, prices and last-observed dates are live values from the active listings InvestmentGrade.com tracks; a few cap rates are calculated from a listing’s stated price and income rather than stated in the listing. Asking cap rates are not closing cap rates.

Credit: Two Strong Ratings, One Question About the Lease

Walmart Inc. is rated AA/Aa2 (S&P / Moody’s), which our ratings database classifies as investment grade. Total revenues were $713.2 billion in the fiscal year ended January 31, 2026, and the Walmart U.S. segment reported net sales of $483.0 billion (Form 10-K). The full profile is on the Walmart credit rating and cap rate page.

Target Corporation is rated A/A2 (S&P / Moody’s), also classified as investment grade in our ratings database. Net sales were $104.8 billion in fiscal 2025. Comparable sales fell 2.6% that year and then rose 3.8% in the quarter ended August 1, 2026, compared with a 1.9% decline a year earlier (Form 10-K and Form 10-Q). Those figures describe sales trends, not the rent a landlord receives. Details are on the Target credit rating and cap rate page, and both tenants can be benchmarked in our credit tenant ratings database.

For either company, the rating applies to a lease only if the rated entity signs or guarantees it. A rating on the parent does not by itself tell you who owes the rent on a specific building, so confirm the tenant entity and any guaranty in the executed lease before relying on the credit.

Cap Rates: Live Medians for Walmart, Target and Peers

Live asking cap rates for Walmart, Target and comparable tenants:

Active listings InvestmentGrade.com tracks with an asking cap rate (stated in the listing, or computed from its stated income and price when no rate is stated), listings last observed October 12, 2026. Asking cap rates are not closed-sale cap rates. The middle half is the range from the 25th to the 75th percentile of listings. The 10-year Treasury yield is 5.24% as of October 1, 2026 (FRED series DGS10). Ratings are the agency ratings in our ratings database for the entity shown, which may be a parent company; the rating type (for example issuer, senior unsecured debt, long-term debt or revenue bond ratings) varies by company and is shown on each tenant page. A rating applies to a lease only if the rated entity signs or guarantees it, so confirm the tenant and any guarantor in the lease. n/a means no verified rating is on file.

Across the active listings we track, Walmart asks a live median cap rate of 5.13%, while Target asks 5.33%. Both medians rest on a small number of listings, and a single large ground lease can move a median, so treat the numbers as a snapshot of what sellers are asking rather than a measure of what buyers pay. A property-level comparison should hold lease structure constant: a Walmart ground lease should be compared with other ground leases, and a building lease with other building leases.

Lease Structure: Ownership Changes the Question

Both retailers own much of their store base. Walmart reported owning 3,728 of its 4,611 Walmart U.S. retail units at January 31, 2026 (Form 10-K). Target reported owning 1,546 of 1,995 stores at January 31, 2026, leasing 288, and owning the building on leased land at 161 (Form 10-K). That matters for buyers because net lease listings for these companies can be ground leases, where the investor owns the land and the tenant owns the building, as well as building leases. Confirm who owns the building before comparing cap rates.

Box size is the second structural difference. As of August 1, 2026, 274 Target stores had 170,000 square feet or more, 1,598 had 50,000 to 169,999 square feet and 147 had 49,999 square feet or less (Form 10-Q). Large boxes can have a narrower pool of replacement tenants if the original tenant leaves, so remaining term and renewal options carry real weight. Target’s Form 10-K states that the exercise of its lease renewal options is at its sole discretion, so renewal is not assured. Check renewal options, the rent schedule, co-tenancy and go-dark provisions in each lease.

The Bond-to-NNN Pivot

Income buyers can compare real estate against a bond benchmark. A corporate bond index for the matching rating category is one such benchmark, but it is a category measure rather than a quote on a Walmart or Target bond, so the pre-tax comparison depends on where corporate yields stand when you buy. The cap rate table above shows each tenant’s median asking cap rate against the 10-year Treasury yield (Walmart 5.13%, Target 5.33%), and current index yields by rating category are on our corporate bond yields by rating page.

The case for owning the real estate rather than a bond rests on 1031 exchange eligibility, residual land value, scheduled rent increases where the lease has them, and building depreciation when the investor owns the building. The math for Walmart is in Walmart Bonds vs NNN Real Estate, and the broader framework is in what the bond-to-NNN spread means. Tax outcomes depend on your situation; this is general information, not tax advice.

Verdict: Which Tenant Wins?

On credit, Walmart carries the higher rating of the two (AA/Aa2 versus A/A2) and reports more U.S. stores (4,611 Walmart U.S. stores versus 2,019 Target stores, as dated in the table). The live medians in the table above show where sellers are asking for each. Target offers an investment grade rating on a smaller store base, and its listings are worth a closer look when the lease is long, the box is a size that other retailers use, and the tenant entity is clear.

Neither answer replaces property-level diligence. The deciding factors are the lease obligor, remaining term, renewal options, ground lease versus building lease, and the location, not the logo. If you are weighing a replacement property under a 1031 exchange deadline, compare listings with the same lease structure and confirm the tenant and any guaranty in the lease.