Topic: How To Invest

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, November 18, 2016

Article Excerpt

WAL-MART STORES INC., $68.54, New York symbol WMT, is the world’s largest retailer, with 11,593 locations in 28 countries. The company continues to invest heavily in its stores and Internet businesses. It has also increased the pay of its U.S. workers. Due to these extra costs, the company’s earnings in the quarter ended October 31, 2016, fell 8.2%, to $3.0 billion from $3.3 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share declined 4.9%, to $0.98 from $1.03, on fewer shares outstanding. That beat the consensus estimate of $0.96. Sales in the quarter rose 0.7%, to $118.2 billion from $117.4 billion. However, that missed the consensus forecast of $118.7 billion. If you exclude the impact that currency rate changes had on Wal-Mart’s international operations, sales rose 2.5% in the quarter. Same-store sales at the company’s U.S. stores gained 1.2% during those three months. That was thanks to a 0.7% rise in customer traffic and a 5.2% increase in same-store sales for its smaller Neighborhood Market stores…