Wal-Mart's 3Q profits beat estimates; revenue falls short

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is reporting its third-quarter profit fell 8.2 percent dragged down by investments in e-commerce and other areas. Its earnings still beat Wall Street estimates. Revenue fell short of expectations.

Shares slipped 0.4 percent in pre-market trading.

The world's largest retailer says it earned $3.03 billion, or 98 cents per share, for the three-month period ended Oct. 31. That compares with $3.3 billion, or $1.03 per share in the year-ago period.

Analysts expected 96 cents per share, according to analysts at FactSet.

Revenue rose just 0.7 percent to $118.18 billion. Analysts expected $118.6 billion.

Revenue at stores open at least a year rose 1.2 percent.

Most notably, e-commerce sales accelerated to 20.6 percent.

Wal-Mart is reinventing itself in the face of increasing competition from online leader Amazon.com and other rivals.