Yes but Walmart reported
Wal-Mart's September Sales Top Forecast
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said on Thursday its September sales at U.S. stores open at least a year rose a better-than-expected 6 percent, as a blast of cool weather in the final week of the period drove demand for fall merchandise.
The world's biggest company by revenues said total sales in the five-week period ended Oct. 3 reached $23.4 billion, up 13 percent from the same period last year.
Wal-Mart had expected a 3 percent to 5 percent increase in September same-store sales, and forecast a similar gain for October.
The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer said last week's cold snap probably siphoned some demand from October. The first cold weather of the season usually arrives in the October sales period, not in September, Wal-Mart said.
The Sam's Club warehouse division continued its strong turnaround after several years of underperformance, reporting an 8.2 percent same-store sales increase for September, against a 1.6 percent gain last year.
The Wal-Mart stores division posted a 5.6 percent September same-store sales increase, compared with a 3.6 percent gain a year ago.
The September same-store sales increase outpaced last year's 3.3 percent monthly gain, but was below the 6.9 percent jump reported in August, when child tax credits drove particularly strong back-to-school sales.
Wal-Mart had cautioned investors that the September sales growth would not be as strong as August's, in part because consumers had already spent tax credits on back-to-school goods, and steep gasoline prices kept budgets tighter.
washingtonpost.com |
