Wal-Mart profit, sales miss on stronger dollar
Wal-Mart Stores delivered quarterly earnings and revenue that fell short of analysts' expectations on Tuesday, hurt by the stronger dollar.
Shares of Wal-Mart moved lower in premarket trading immediately after the announcement. The stock was down 4 percent to $76.75 in midday trading.
The company reported a 1.1 percent rise in same-store sales in the United States, missing the consensus for an increase of 1.5 percent, according to analysts polled by research firm Consensus Metrix.
While those sales are nothing to get excited about, Wal-Mart has turned in three consecutive quarters of positive comps, said Budd Bugatch, Raymond James director of furnishings.
Bugatch said Wall Street got overly excited about the prospect of consumers spending gas savings in the retail sector following months of spiraling crude prices.
"It was something that bothered us. We think there were some other issues that the consumer would face. I think increased health-care costs, and obviously putting some money back in savings and reducing debt," he told CNBC's "Squawk Box."
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Wal-Mart posted fiscal first-quarter earnings of $1.03 per share, down from $1.10 a share in the year-earlier period. The retailer said currency negatively impacted earnings by about 3 cents a share.
Revenue slipped to $114.83 billion from $114.96 billion.
Analysts expected Wal-Mart to post quarterly earnings of $1.04 per share on $116.21 billion in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.
The discount retailer has recently moved to improve its online shopping platform to compete with rivals like Amazon.com. Earlier this month, Wal-Mart confirmed it will test a subscription shipping service to rival Amazon's Prime. It will cost $50 per year and is initially available by invitation only, according to the Associated Press.
Messaging start-up Tango is now allowing users to purchase Wal-Mart products as well. Tango has about 300 million users.
In February, Wal-Mart announced it would raise its minimum wage for hourly workers to $9 per hour in April, with a hike to $10 by next February. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.
Wal-Mart shares have fallen nearly 7 percent this year as of Monday's close.
—CNBC's Terri Cullen and Tom DiChristopher and Reuters contributed to this report.