SuperiorInvestor Blog » Same Store Sales

Wal-Mart Performs Well In September

Darren — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:57:14 +0000

Huge discount retailer Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) performed well in September, as Americans who are strapped for cash sought discounts. Sales were not as high as originally forecast, coming in at an increase of 2.4% in same store sales. Analysts had hope for an increase of 2.5%, but weren’t particularly depressed considering how other retailers performed.

Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, confirmed tss third-quarter profit forecast. The company says they’re on pace for earnings of 73 cents to 76 cents per share from their continuing operations.

Wal-Mart is up 1.9% in pre-market trading.

Wal-Mart said they were also affected by store closures in Hurricane-struck areas.

“In spite of both the impact from the hurricanes and the recent challenges to consumer confidence as a result of the economic environment, Walmart U.S. had another period of solid comparable store sales performance,” said Walmart U.S. President and Chief Executive Officer Eduardo Castro-Wright.

McDonalds Same Store Sales Up 8.5%

Darren — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 14:24:37 +0000

McDonalds (NYSE:MCD) has been doing a better than expect job of upselling customers in their giant chain of fast food restaurants. Sales at their global chain for stores that have been open more than 13 months were up 8.5% in August.

McDonald’s says that a huge ad campaign the company ran during the Summer Olympics is the cause for the increase in sales.

Same-store sales, a key gauge of retail health, rose 4.5 percent in the United States, 11.6 percent in Europe and 10 percent in the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa division.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Larry Miller had expected worldwide same-store sales to rise as much as 5.5 percent in August. UBS Investment Research analyst David Palmer was looking for a global sales to increase 4.7 percent in August.

McDonalds shares were up 2% on the news.

WalMart June Sales Up 6.1%

Darren — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:12:07 +0000

WalMart (NYSE:WMT), a retail bellweather, has reported June same store sales that are better than expected. The company had expected SSS to be in the 4% range for June, but actual numbers were up 6.1%.

Sales of Sam’s Clubs stores open more that one year were up 4.6%.

“The Wal-Mart U.S. underlying business remains strong,” said Chief Financial Officer Tom Schoewe in a statement. “However, consumers and small business owners remain concerned about the economy, inflation and, most of all, higher gas prices.”

The increase in sales caused the company to raise their earnings forecast for the second quarter. They had been expecting earnings in th 78-81 cent per share range, but have revised the figures to the 82 to 84 cent range.