Wal-Mart Lowers Estimate of Sales
From the Associated Press
Blaming a computer error, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Wednesday lowered its September sales estimate again.
Wal-Mart cut its estimate to 1.3% from 1.8% on Saturday. The discounter originally forecast sales at stores open at least a year in a range of 1% to 3%.
Wal-Mart said Wednesday that it revised the figure because it “incorrectly coded” 235 Wal-Mart stores and Sam’s Club warehouse stores in calculating comparable sales for the five weeks comprising the September period.
Wal-Mart blamed the shortfall on difficult comparisons with last year, when sales at stores open at least a year, a key measure of retail health, surged 3.8% on a buying spree related to Hurricane Katrina.
