Retail Sales Cool at Many Chains

Wal-Mart raises its guidance, but Kohl's warns.
By TSC Staff ,

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.

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