Wal-Mart Profit Tops Estimates as Low Prices Boost Sales
By Renee Dudley - Feb 21, 2013 7:10 AM ET
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), the world’s largest retailer, said fourth-quarter profit rose 8.6 percent, topping analysts’ estimates, as a wider variety of merchandise and lower prices drew shoppers.
Net income increased to $5.61 billion, or $1.67 a share, from $5.16 billion, or $1.50, a year earlier, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company said today in a statement. The average of 22 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg was $1.57.
Chief Executive Officer Mike Duke expanded the retailer’s assortment while keeping prices low and brought back the company’s layaway program to draw customers during the holiday shopping season. The initiatives helped boost sales at Wal-Mart U.S. stores open at least 12 months by 1 percent in the quarter, the sixth-straight quarterly gain.
“Wal-Mart ended 2012 on a strong note with market-share gains during holiday,” Deborah Weinswig, an analyst for Citigroup Inc. in New York, said in a report before the results were released.
Wal-Mart rose 0.8 percent to $69.79 at 7:04 a.m. in New York. The shares had gained 1.4 percent this year through yesterday.
Profit in the year ending January 2014 will be $5.20 to $5.40 a share, Wal-Mart said. The average of 25 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg was $5.39 a share.
To contact the reporter on this story: Renee Dudley in New York at rdudley6@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Robin Ajello at rajello@bloomberg.net
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