Wal-Mart Nudges Fourth-Quarter Earnings Target Lower

Wal-Mart (WMT Quote), the world's biggest retailer, expects to report fourth-quarter earnings that may fall slightly short of analysts' expectations.

On a recorded call discussing its fiscal third-quarter earnings -- which met expectations -- Wal-Mart CFO Thomas Schoewe said that earnings will likely be between 46 cents and 48 cents a share in the fiscal fourth quarter, which ends in January. The current analyst consensus as reported by First Call/Thomson Financial is for earnings of 48 cents a share.

That earnings estimate is in line with Wal-Mart's previously announced same-store sales target of between 3% and 5% growth, Schoewe said. Same-store sales measure sales at stores open at least a year. ...