Wal-Mart today signalled that first-quarter earnings could fall short of its previous forecast as cold and wet weather hurt sales of seasonal goods such as lawn and garden items.
"We now estimate earnings will come in around the low end of our previous estimate of 56 cents to 58 cents per share," the world's largest retailer said in a press release.
"Around the low end" is a phrase used by Wal-Mart to indicate that earnings could be below the forecast. Analysts' average first-quarter earnings forecast is 57 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Wal-Mart shares were down fractionally at $49.10 in premarket trade on the Inet electronic brokerage network, compared with a close at $49.50 on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.
Analysts blamed a very early Easter and poor spring weather for the weak sales.
Total sales rose 11.3 percent to $27.98 billion in the five weeks ended April 1st, Wal-Mart said.