Chicago — Wal-Mart Stores on Thursday reported lower than expected quarterly sales at established US stores, hurt by food deflation, and its shares fell nearly 3%. The world’s largest retailer said sales at US stores open at least a year rose 1.2%, excluding fuel price fluctuations, in the third quarter to end-October. That is weaker than market expectations of a 1.3% rise, according to research firm Consensus Metrix. Wal-Mart raised the low end of its fiscal 2017 profit forecast to $4.20 a share from $4.15 and kept the high end at $4.35. Net income attributable to Wal-Mart fell to $3.03bn, or 98c per share, from $3.3bn, or $1.03 per share, a year earlier. Analysts on average expected 96c per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Net sales rose 0.5% to $117.2bn. Online sales growth accelerated from the previous quarter, with a 20.6% increase.
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