Bentonville, AR, Dec. 4--Wal-Mart Stores' November same store sales rose 3.9%, even with Wall Street's estimate, but comparable sales growth at both the Wal-Mart and Sam's divisions wasn't as strong as expected.
In a press release Thursday, the world's largest retailer said total sales for the four weeks ended Nov. 28 increased 11% to $21.66 billion from $19.47 billion last year.
Wal-Mart said November same store sales at its namesake unit were up 3.7%, while Sam's Club same store sales rose 4.7%. Wall Street had expected a 3.8% increase at the Wal-Mart division and 6.5% growth at Sam's Club, according to Thomson First Call.
For December, Wal-Mart forecasts same store sales growth of 3% to 5%.
Although Wal-Mart's November same store sales growth was in line with its guidance for a 3% to 5% increase, many analysts had lowered their estimates for the month after the retailer's sales performance on Black Friday, the important day-after-Thanksgiving selling day that marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season.
The company posted record Black Friday sales that were up more than 6%, but most analysts translated that performance into expectations of flat to slightly higher same store sales for November.
Wal-Mart said total sales for the month at its flagship division rose 10.8% to $14.76 billion from $13.33 billion last year, while Sam's Club sales were up 7.4% to $2.84 billion from $2.65 billion.
In the international division, November sales jumped 15.8% to $4.05 billion from $3.5 billion a year earlier.
Wal-Mart said same store sales for the 43 weeks of the year to date were up 3.8% for the company as a whole, with 3.7% growth at the Wal-Mart division and 4.6% at Sam's Club.
Total sales for the year-to-date improved 11.3% to $203.97 billion from $ 183.28 billion last year, while Wal-Mart total sales rose 10.6% to $138.34 billion from $125.05 billion and Sam's Club sales climbed 8.6% to $27.82 billion from $25.63 billion.
The company said international sales were up 15.9% to $37.81 billion so far this year from $32.61 billion a year earlier.
