Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. reported net sales for the 5-week period ending July 1, 2005, and July 2, 2004 as follows (dollars in billions):
5 Weeks Ended 22 Weeks Ended Percent Percent 7-1-2005 7-2-2004 Change 7-1-2005 7-2-2004 Change Wal-Mart Stores $ 20.230 $ 18.111 11.7% $ 84.573 $ 76.829 10.1% SAM'S CLUB 3.898 3.645 6.9% 16.291 15.379 5.9% International 5.865 5.216 12.4% 25.196 22.247 13.3% Total Company $ 29.993 $ 26.972 11.2% $126.060 $114.455 10.1%
Comparable sales for the periods ending July 1, 2005 and July 2, 2004, were as follows:
5 Weeks Ended 22 Weeks Ended 7-1-2005 7-2-2004 7-1-2005 7-2-2004 Wal-Mart Stores 4.6 % 1.4 % 3.3 % 4.2 % SAM'S CLUB 4.0 % 6.4 % 3.3 % 8.4 % Total U.S. 4.5 % 2.3 % 3.3 % 4.9 %
WMT is forecasting comparable sales in the U.S. for the July four-week period to be in the 3% to 5% range.
Tom Schoewe, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer said, “We are encouraged by the higher comp store sales momentum. We do, however, continue to experience expense pressure in the quarter. Based on the results of the first two months, we believe analysts' current earnings per share consensus estimate of $0.65 for the second fiscal quarter is reasonable and within our previously stated guidance of $0.63 to $0.67.”