Retail Sales Cool at Many Chains
Monthly same-store sales declined at many of the nation's chain stores in March, as continuing worries about the economy kept a lid on consumer spending.
The timing of Easter, which led many stores to shut down for the holiday, also factored in, a number of retailers said.
Even so, not all the news was dour. In particular,
Wal-Mart
(WMT) - Get Report
, the world's biggest retailer, raised its first-quarter continuing operations profit forecast to a range of 74 cents to 76 cents a share from its prior outlook of 70 cents to 74 cents.
Wal-Mart said same-store sales rose 1.1% last month, including fuel sales, or 0.7% without fuel sales. Total revenue in March climbed 7.9% to $36.97 billion from $34.26 billion a year earlier. For April, U.S. comp sales, without fuel, should rise between 1% and 3%, Wal-Mart said. Shares edged up 0.4% to $54.34.
Retail Blames It on the Rain |
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Costco
(COST) - Get Report
had one of the better reports, as same-store sales were up 7% last month, while total sales rose 11% to $6.57 billion.
Gap
(GPS) - Get Report
wasn't as fortunate, and its shares slid 4.1% to $18.12 after the clothing seller said March comps slumped 18% year over year. Total revenue was $1.37 billion for the month, a 12% drop.
Even though the company reiterated its fiscal-year earnings guidance of $1.20 to $1.27 a share, investors weren't impressed.
Kohl's
(KSS) - Get Report
was hit hard, with same-store sales sliding 15.5% for the month and total sales down 7.9%. The company also said it expects first-quarter earnings of 40 cents to 42 cents a share, falling short of the 49-cent consensus estimate.
Among other chains, discounter
Target
(TGT) - Get Report
said March same-store sales fell 4.4%, while overall sales advanced 1.5% to $5.68 billion.
Aeropostale's
(ARO)
same-store sales rose 2.5%, and total revenue jumped 13.6%.
Meanwhile,
American Eagle
(AEO) - Get Report
was down 2.5% to $16.50 after it cut its first-quarter earnings projection and said comp sales declined by 12% last month. Total sales in March fell 2% to $267.3 million.
Profits for the first quarter, the apparel seller said, will likely be 18 cents to 20 cents a share, falling short of the earlier outlook of 25 cents to 27 cents.
Comps for March at
Limited
(LTD)
and
Pacific Sunwear
(PSUN)
decreased 8%.
This article was written by a staff member of TheStreet.com.