Wal-Mart lowers revenue outlook for the year on tough sales environment

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. says a tougher sales environment will hurt its revenue this fiscal year.

The retailer already warned investors in February that it would come in at the low end of its earlier forecast of 3 to 5 percent gains. Wal-Mart said Wednesday that it now expects its revenue will be up 2 to 3 percent over the prior fiscal year, when it generated $473.1 billion.

That calculates to a forecast of roughly $482.6 billion to $487.3 billion for the current fiscal year. Analysts polled by FactSet were anticipating the Bentonville, Arkansas, company would generate revenue of $487.45 billion.

Shares of Wal-Mart closed down 3.6 percent, their worst one-day drop in nearly two years.