Walmart is surging after crushing earnings estimates Thursday morning, adding about $12 billion to the wealth of the Walton family. An investment of $1,000 at the start of 1980 would be worth over $1.9 million today. Watch Walmart stock trade in real time here. Walmart's stock price is surging after the company announced better-than-expected earnings results Thursday morning. As a result, the Walton family — the descendants of the retail mega-giant's founder — gained about $12 billion in wealth Thursday morning. And an investor in the company decades ago would have made a very nice return on that bet.