Wal-Mart's Stock Surges After Profit Beats Expectations

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s stock surged 3.2% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the discount retail giant reported a fiscal third quarter profit that declined less than expected, helping offset a slight miss in revenue. For the quarter ended Oct. 31, earnings slipped to $3.3 billion, or $1.03 a share, from $3.71 billion, or $1.15 a share, in the same period a year ago. The FactSet earnings-per-share consensus was 98 cents. Revenue fell to $117.41 billion from $119 billion, just below the FactSet consensus of $118.1 billion. Excluding the impact of currency movements, revenue would have been $122.4 billion. Same-store sales for Walmart U.S. increased 1.5% from a year ago, matching the FactSet consensus, while the 0.4% growth at Sam's Club missed expectations of a 1.1% increase. Looking ahead, Wal-Mart said it expects fiscal fourth-quarter EPS of $1.40-$1.55, compared with the FactSet consensus of $1.42, and narrowed the full-year outlook to $4.50 to $4.65 from $4.40 to $4.70. Walmart U.S. same-store sales are expected to grow 1% on the year, compared with the previous outlook of growth of 1% to 2%. The stock has tumbled 33% year to date through Monday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has slipped 1.9%.