4th quarter According to the Commerce Department, U.S. retail sales increased 0.4 percent in January.

Nine of the 13 categories measured showed gains last month, led by a 2 percent jump at general merchandise stores, including department stores. However, todays release of big name retailers shows the retail picture is still cloudy, and rising costs are affecting companies. On Tuesday, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:WMT), the worlds largest retailer, reported disappointing fourth quarter results. Net income fell nearly 15 percent from the prior year to $5.16 billion ($1.50 per share). Revenue increased 6 percent to $123.17 billion, but analysts were expecting $124.25 billion. Our price leadership is making a difference across the United States, as many families are settling into a new normal. Core customers remain cautious about their finances, and they rely on Walmarts EDLP promise to help them manage through todays economic challenges, said Mike Duke, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. president and chief executive officer. Although the company beat estimates, rising costs continue to shrink margins. Costs increased 6.2 percent to shrink gross margins to 24.8 percent from the year earlier quarter.
E-commerce On Monday, Walmart (NYSE:WMT) reported an increased stake to around 51 percent in the Chinese e-commerce firm Yihaodian in an effort to increase its presence in the countrys expanding consumer market. The company said in a statement that it needs government regulatory approval; financial details were not disclosed. This news comes just two weeks after Walmart announced a new leader for it China operations.

S&P 500

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Wal-Mart, which had lost its lowest-price edge perception among some consumers, has said it plans to invest $2 billion to stay price competitive. Price investment strategy, however, narrowed gross margin in the latest period, including a 0.13 percentage point drop in Walmart U.S. Traffic turns positive but at a cost, said ISI Groups analyst Greg Melich. Initiatives of lay-away, multi-channel integration, and expanded assortment have turned traffic and (comparable sales). Yet the investment in gross margin, inventory and resulting muted (per-share profit) guidance will keep the stock in check. For the quarter ended Jan. 31, Wal-Mart /quotes/zigman/245476/quotes/nls/wmt WMT -0.34% , based in Bentonville, Ark., reported net income of $5.16 billion, or $1.50 a share, compared with $6.06 billion, or $1.70 a share, in the year-earlier quarter, when it had a tax benefit of 29 cents from the exit of its German business in 2007.
Dividends History
Payable 09/06/2011 06/06/2011 04/04/2011 01/03/2011 04/05/2010 01/04/2010 04/06/2009 04/07/2008 Amount/Sha re $0.37 $0.37 $0.37 $0.30 $0.30 $0.27 $0.27 $0.24 Ex-Date 08/10/2011 05/11/2011 03/09/2011 12/08/2010 03/10/2010 12/09/2009 03/11/2009 03/12/2008 Record Declaration 08/12/2011 05/13/2011 03/11/2011 12/10/2010 03/12/2010 12/11/2009 03/13/2009 03/14/2008 03/07/2011 03/04/2011 03/04/2011 03/04/2010 03/04/2010 03/05/2009 03/05/2009 03/06/2008

04/02/2007

$0.22

03/14/2007

03/16/2007

03/08/2007

Earning and growth rate comparison http://www.dailyfinance.com/quote/nyse/wal-mart-stores/wmt/earnings-growth-rates? source=esadlfltnal0001