Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT) rose in pre-market trading after the world's largest retailer posted stronger-than-expected fiscal third-quarter earnings, and lifted the low end of its annual guidance.
Shares advanced as much as 2% as of 8:08 a.m. in New York on Tuesday. The stock closed up 2.5% at $57.87 on Monday, paring this year's rout to 33%.
Net income fell to $3.304bn, or $1.03 per share, in the three months ended October 31, from $3.711bn, or $1.15 per share, a year earlier, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company said in a statement.
That result beat the $0.98 average estimate of 25 analysts polled by Capital IQ.
Third-quarter revenue fell 1.3% to $117.4bn year-ovrer-year due to the strong U.S. dollar.
Sales at stores open at least a year increased 1.5% in the quarter, driven by a 1.7% jump in traffic.
The company now anticipates profit of $4.50 to $4.65 per share this year, up from the previous guidance of $4.40 to $4.70 per share given in August.
Wal-Mart is working to fix up its stores after years of customer complaints about out-of-stock items, weak customer service and long waits at the checkout line.