Recession's grim reaper can't catch Wal-Mart - Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 
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Recession's grim reaper can't catch Wal-Mart

Posted Nov 13 2008, 06:44 AM by Douglas McIntyre
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The home of "everyday low prices" took a bit of a hit today when it put out its earnings. It can not longer be called "recession proof", but it is still damn close.

Wal-Mart made a very modest adjustment to its guidance. The world's largest retailer said "For the full year, ending January 31, we have tightened and modestly reduced our guidance and now forecast diluted earnings per share from continuing operations to be within a range of $3.42 to $3.46." Wall St. expected that number to be $3.49. Not much of a miss. Not in this economic environment.

What won't end up in the headlines is how well Wal-Mart did in the last quarter. Net sales for the third quarter of fiscal year 2009 were $97.6 billion, an increase of 7.5% from $90.8 billion in the third quarter last year. The is an astonishingly good number for such a large company to post in an economic downturn.

Income from continuing operations for the third quarter was $3.033 billion, an increase of 6.6% from $2.846 billion in the third quarter last year. Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations for the third quarter of fiscal year 2009 increased to $0.77 from the previous year's third quarter result of $0.70 per share.

A look at numbers from large retailers including Best Buy, Gap, Macy's who hit a wall last quarter show just how good the Wal-Mart number are. While WMT international revenue did well, up 11.2% to $61.1 billion, it was the US which posted the more surprising numbers with an over 6% improvement at Wal-Mart and a nearly 8% improvement at Sam's Club.

Because Wal-Mart is huge, its exposure to the economy should be as well. That it can market itself as the only reasonable place to shop in a recession and get consumers to buy into that is amazing.

Top Stocks blogger Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.

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Comments

 

B.H. Obama the president elect. is probably going to support the move to unionize Walmart. If he is successful he will start the company down the road od G.M. who is going bankrupt in part to the huge concessions it made to the unions over the years. toyota and nisson are kicking G.M.s butsy because they resist union influence. Walmart so far has held the line. I am concerned that without public support for its business plan even Walmart will be shot down by the COMMUNITY ORANIZER. GUNS AND BULLETS are flying out the door at   Walmart as the people are already worried about BOH taking out the 2nd amendment. Buy your personel protection before the LEFTYS take down another freedom as they try to GUT our US ability to proct our flag!! Remember before ww11 the Bad Guys took the guns away from the people.Ten they came back and forced Martial Law on the Helpless populus. This is the time to be extremely wary about the direction this country is going. B.H.O MUST HAVE HIS FEET HELD TO FIRE at every turnto keep him from turning America into a HAS BEEN SOCIALIST STATE . Good Change is one thing Bad Change is where we are most likely headed if go to sleep at the wheel this next 4 years!!

gutour

More union bashing...why?? Wal-Mart should be paying their help good wages,and provide them with a guarenteed pension for their hard work.They have not done this yet.Unions are voted in by the workers,give them a chance to either say yes or no.It has nothing to do with GM,Ford,etc. They have been making inferior cars for 20 years.They know it.And now they are crying wolf.Seems the bashers have no pensions coming,it was there choice on the jobs they chose,live with it.

This is what America voted for and now this is what America will get.  Hold on folks you are about to go for the ride of your life.

If you were aware of the new union legistation trying to pass-you will realized that there will be NO vote. There will be no yes or no vote.  That is scary not the unions coming into Wal-mart.   Personally I am fully capable of speaking for myself. I do not have to pay someone to do it.

I work for Wal Mart and I don't want any stinking union coming in to mess things up. Not saying Wal Mart is perfect but its a job with a lot of freindly customers. Why mess with something that works????

Worked for WalMart Inc. for 9+ yrs.  Pay is average for similar jobs, benefits are actually good, but not everyone fully takes advatange of them.  Mostly it comes down to the current store Mgmt and if they are any good.  If so work is good, if not then conditions in that store suffer.  I too can stand for myself I don't need a union to do it for me for 1/4 of my pay.  Nor is it neccessary in the walmart culture.  I successfully took more than one issue up the chain of command to get a fair resolution.  You just have to be willing to stand up for yourself.  

While I understand that illegal immigrants (all of them not just the hispanics) can't afford to rock the boat, this is an issue that needs to be solved at the federal legal level, not by unions.  Most of whom are no better than political factions.  ran ban corrupt individuals more concerned with their own pockebooks, and increasing the power of the union than the individuals they are supposed to protect.

As for Walmarts good numbers, thank your politians ( of all parties) who turned a blind eye to overall corporate greed which eventually caught up and caused this near (soon to be real) recession.  As times toughen more people will be forced to shop at "box" stores like Walmart, kmart, target, sam's, costco, lowe's, etc.  Which will just make their numbers look better.  Only when times are good, can people afford to shop at the more trendy stores and bypass walmart.

Government bailouts for banks, carmakers, wall street.....these are the people who took the money and ran.

Wal Mart just gave good value at low prices and helped all consumers in the process.  They hired people no one else would give jobs to and they now have insurance, the ability to buy Wal Mart stock with a match from Wal Mart and joining a 401 k.

I think Wal Mart should be put in charge of helath care and the economy.  Maybe they will should the contry how to make things work.

lowest oil chnge at the low price walmart $26 went to $30 yesterday after the price of oil went from $1`49 to $56 a barrel

How recession prof are they?? They sell a bunch of junk we already have!!

It is amazing how many people without minimal knowledge of what socialism means atack the elected president of this amzing country. If you think the last eight years represent good government and leadership of a country like ours it is really shocking. Anyway in this democracy your opinion is respected. But before you express it, please, learn, read, analyse and then shaee it with the others. Otherwise it just sounds like rumblings from people whom can barely spell and express a coherent idea. Let's ask for better education standards, health care, a realistic energy policy and jobs being created here, instead of being shipped abroad.

Well I'm sick and tired of you people crying about unions and non union.  The thing that it all boils down is you people have to start buying AMERICAN made goods. Don't talk to me about the american cars being inferior to the forigen makes.  I have been driving Fords all my life and have kept all of them well over 100thousand miles. I now have a Ford 500 that gets 24 mpg in town and 29 on the hwy. A very competive mileage for the size. A Toyota camery don't get any better milage.  You have to realize if you only buy MADE IN THE USA you will be creating jobs in the good old USA. You go to WAL-MART and buy all that cheap garbage made in China and it lasts  no time at all. Then you have to rebuy the same thing over again. Well you didn't save a thing in the long run.

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