Wal-Mart online sales grow
The overall picture for Wal-Mart was middling in its just-released Q1 report. Earnings of $1.00 beat the 96-cent estimate and revenue at $118.8B beat the $117.51B consensus. The bad news was that guidance was a touch soft for Q2.
But the bigger picture is the battle for online retailing. Wal-Mart is trying to take on Amazon and it's making progress. Sales online rose 69% in Q1 compared to a year earlier.
In terms of geographical performance, we're still waiting for a global breakdown but US same-store sales rose 1.3%, beating the 1.2% analyst estimate. Still, that's an anemic number in a consumer-driven economy.
But it could just be part of the shift online.
Ultimately, if Amazon faces an extended, competitive war for online retailing with Wal-Mart it will add to the deflationary forces in retail.
