Wal-Mart Earnings Preview: Positive Comparable Sales Growth Unlikely — forbes.com

Retail giant Wal-Mart is scheduled to release its Q2 fiscal 2015 earnings on August 14. While the last three months haven’t been too bad for the U.S. retail market in terms of sales growth, a gradual shift in shopping preference to online shopping has hurt retailers that do not have a sizable web presence. Over the last two years, foot traffic in the U.S. has declined consistently as buyers are making more purchases online, which has troubled many retailers including Wal-Mart. The retail giant has reported comparable sales decline in the U.S. for five consecutive quarters now and this may well be the sixth given that its online channel accounts for an non-material portion of its revenues. Last month, even Wal-Mart’s CEO issued an implicit warning on the company’s Q2 earnings citing unemployment as a big concern.

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