Retail's Summer Swoon Has Even Wal-Mart on the Run

Investors expect more from Wal-Mart (WMT Quote).

That could explain why recent weeks have seen the superstore retailer's shares take a pounding along with lesser rivals, amid concerns of slow summer sales. In fact, the speculation got so bad that on the last day of July, Wal-Mart shares fell more than 6% amid rumors that the Behemoth from Bentonville would miss earnings estimates.

Not likely. This is Wal-Mart we're talking about. This is the world's biggest retailer. Wal-Mart doesn't miss. "Management has made it pretty clear that Wal-Mart is extremely comfortable with 36 cents a share," says Emme Kozloff, analyst with Sanford Bernstein, referring to the consensus of analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial. (Kozloff rates Wal-Mart an outperform, her highest rating, and her firm hasn't done recent underwriting for Wal-Mart.)

High Hurdles

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