Wal-Mart Weak On Earnings Miss (WMT)

Shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. WMT are down more than 1% in pre-market trading as the company suggested its first quarter earnings would come in lower than Wall Street expected. Wal-Mart reported fourth quarter earnings of $1.70 per share on revenues of $115.6 billion, which excludes membership and other income. Total revenue rose to $116.3 billion. Wall Street had expected earnings of $1.31 per share on total net sales of $117.52 billion. Wal-Mart said that sales in the U.S. continued to decline, falling for a seventh straight quarter, worse than what the company projected for itself. "Some of the pricing and merchandising issues in Wal-Mart ran deeper than we initially expected, and they require a response that will take time to see results," CEO and President Mike Duke said in a statement. Same-store-sales reported revenues of down 1.1%, while Wall Street had expected a rise of 0.8%. Wal-Mart had said that the holiday quarter would end the decline in revenue, but it appears that their own internal projections were misguided. The company projected first quarter earnings of 91-96 cents per share. Wall Street expects earnings of 96 cents per share. The company did forecast earnings that are higher than what Wall Street was expecting. The company forecast earnings of $4.35-$4.50 per share, while Wall Street expects $3.67 per share. At last check, shares of Wal-Mart are off 92 cents in pre-market trading to $54.46, a loss of 1.66%.