Home / Markets
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Wal-Mart First-Quarter Profit Up 6.9%
Associated Press
![Wal-Mart Storefront [276]](/images/stories/wal_mart_storefront.jpg)
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, said Tuesday its profit rose 6.9% in its first quarter on higher sales as lower prices helped boost its results, topping Wall Street's expectations.
The company also cited better customer service and internal cost savings for the improvement.
Wal-Mart (WMT) earned $3.02 billion, or 76 cents per share, in the three months ended April 30, up from $2.83 billion, or 68 cents per share, a year earlier.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had projected earnings of 75 cents per share. The estimates typically exclude one-time items.
The company had overall revenue of $95.30 billion, up 10.3% from $86.41 billion in the prior year. Net sales excluding membership fees rose to $94.1 billion from $85.4 billion a year ago.
Analysts projected revenue of $93.47 billion for the quarter.
Without fuel, same-store sales for the first quarter were up 2.9% at Wal-Mart's domestic properties, rising 2.7% in the Wal-Mart Stores division and 3.6% at Sam's Clubs.
Wal-Mart Chief Financial Officer Tom Schoewe said for the second quarter the company expects sales in stores open at least a year to be between flat and up 2%. He said the company expects to earn between 78 cents per share and 81 cents per share.
He said the company has not yet been able to gauge how much of an impact the federal tax rebate checks will have on shoppers.
FOX Translator
No data currently available.
No data currently available.
Sure, we know some of you are saying the term "marriage penalty" is redundant. In fact, of all the costs associated with getting married (have you seen the cost of a wedding cake lately?), the marriage penalty can be the worst.
Here's how it works: Mr. and Mrs. Right walk down the aisle in wedded bliss and suddenly they¿re a two-income household. If both make roughly the same amount of money, they can be pushed into a higher tax bracket. That's bad, since the higher the bracket, the higher the tax. So, if both were single, they'd end up writing two smaller checks to the tax man that, if combined, would add up to less than the giant check they write in a state of wedded bliss.
Is that fair? We're not touching that, but there is a flip side that few people talk about. The marriage penalty only kicks in if both members of the couple make close to the same amount of money. If there's a big disparity in pay, there's actually a tax advantage. Call it the marriage bonus.
And, it¿s important to remember that there are other financial benefits, such as lower life-insurance rates or health care premiums, that can make up for the extra tax couples pay. So don't let Uncle Sam stop you from saying, "I do."
