Walmart profits slide as sales fall short
NEW YORK - Walmart (WMT) reported an 8 percent decline in fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday morning as the giant discount retailer prunes its global footprint.
Walmart, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, earned $4.57 billion, or $1.43 per share in the three-month period ended Jan. 31. That compares with $4.97 billion, or $1.53 per share, in the year-ago period.
On an adjusted basis, the figure was $1.49, higher than the $1.46 per share estimated by FactSet.
However, the company's revenue of $128.6 billion came in short of the $130.5 billion that Wall Street was looking for, according to FactSet, and shares tumbled 5 percent immediately after the report was released. By around 8 a.m. the drop had trimmed a bit to 3.6 percent, or $2.38, to $63.75.
Walmart is trying to fend off competition on all fronts, including online leader Amazon (AMZN).