Walmart Tells Flipkart to Shelve IPO Plans, Focus on Profitability

Walmart tapped the brakes on Flipkart’s long-anticipated public market debut.

The U.S. retail giant is telling its Indian eCommerce subsidiary to reach profitability first, Moneycontrol reported Friday (May 15), making the decision one of the clearest signals yet that Walmart is tightening financial discipline across its global operations.

The move comes as Walmart itself crosses the $1 trillion market cap threshold and reorganizes its technology teams, suggesting that the parent company is in no mood to take risks on speculative capital raises in uncertain markets.

Walmart asked Flipkart to defer its initial public offering and instead achieve EBITDA breakeven before the end of financial year 2027, the report said. EBITDA refers to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, and it is a widely used measure of operating profitability.

The directive applies to any external fundraise, whether in private or public markets, according to the report.

The decision was made during Walmart CEO and President John Furner’s visit to Bengaluru last week, per the report.

“It was his first trip to India, where he met the broader Flipkart team, since assuming the role in February,” the report said.

Flipkart has been a Walmart subsidiary since 2018, when Walmart paid approximately $16 billion to acquire a controlling stake. An IPO for the Indian platform has been discussed for years but has repeatedly been pushed back.

Meanwhile, Walmart is repositioning itself for a new era. The company crossed the $1 trillion market cap milestone in February, driven by eCommerce growth and its OpenAI partnership. In April, Walmart touted artificial intelligence-driven productivity gains and its 650-store renovation push.

This month, the company said it plans to cut or relocate approximately 1,000 corporate jobs as it consolidates its global technology and product teams.

“In some cases, we’ve had different teams working on similar problems,” executives reportedly said in a memo, which added that affected workers can apply for open roles at Walmart.