Wal-Mart’s January Sales Rise
<?xml:namespace prefix = o />Wal-Mart Stores said Thursday its same-store sales rose 2.1% in January, besting analysts’ and the company’s forecasts, the Associated Press reported.
The world’s biggest retailer’s gain came as consumers searched for bargains and bought necessities such as groceries, AP said.
Including fuel, same-store sales rose 1.5%. Sales at the company’s Sam’s Club warehouses rose 2.4% for the four weeks ended Jan. 30.
The results were better than Wal-Mart’s forecast that sales would be flat to 2% higher, and topped analysts’ forecasts of a 1.1% increase, AP said.
Total sales rose about 2% to $27.74 billion, from $27.26 billion last year, AP reported.
Wal-Mart said in January its fourth-quarter earnings would decline, due to a slow holiday shopping season. The company reports its earnings on Feb. 17.
With about 8,000 tractors and 1,400 straight trucks, Wal-Mart is ranked No. 3 on the Transport Topics Private 100 listing of the largest U.S. and Canadian private carriers.
