Wal-Mart Reports Gain

The renowned retail store chain in United States, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT)’s new strategy for the holiday shopping season  seems to have paid off well after the company reported its quarterly gain in its revenue earlier today. This quarterly gain is the first after nine consecutive quarters of declines in its branded stores across United States.

Wal-Mart opted for a new strategy by offering lowest prices to the customers and the shoppers’ favorite goods which showed some promising results just in time for the holiday shopping season. Wal-Mart is focusing on low pricing and stocking its shelves with the products and brands which the customers care about the most

Wal-Mart, the largest retailer’s today’s report on the quarterly gains comes as a positive sign to the US retail industry amidst the global economic slowdown. The strategy opted by Wal-Mart showed that the customers who are hurt the most by the economic downturn are still willing to pay for the goods if offered at low prices . The hardest hit by the economic downturn are the low income shoppers who are affected and left without jobs in addition to other challenges.

In a pre-recorded phone call, the chief executive officer of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Mike Duke said that the company’s plan has started to work and the customers are showing positive response to the adopted strategy. Wal-Mart in a report earlier today said that the company earned about $3.33 billion at 97 cents a share during the three month period which ended on October compared to the previous year’s $3.43 billion or 95 cents a share. Previous year’s results included a tax benefit of a nickel. Wal-Mart’s net revenue rose by 8.2 percent to $109.5 billion.

The Wal-Mart namesake division in the United States reported a 1.3 percent increase in its revenue excluding fuel sales at its stores which have been open for at least a year and it has exceeded the previous estimates of Wal-Mart by 0.3 percent which broke the series of declines in the past nine consecutive quarters, which happened to be the company’s longest streak ever.

Wal-Mart has reconsidered its earlier decision to replace thousands of popular products which it had earlier ditched in order to de-clutter the stores and it has also opted the everyday low pricing strategy popularized by Sam Walton, Wal-Mart’s founder which it had discarded earlier. But these measures come with a cost and it has caused a decline in the company’s profits margin.

Post Written By: Ed Liston Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.