Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Poor Wal-Mart



It would be cruel to force Wal-Mart to face class action suits. From May, 2011:
Over all, however, earnings beat analyst expectations, helped by sales strength in international stores and at its Sam’s Club unit. The company said its quarterly profit was $3.4 billion, or 97 cents a share, up from $3.3 billion, or 87 cents a share, a year earlier. Wal-Mart had forecast a profit of 91 to 96 cents a share for the quarter, and analysts expected a 95-cent-a-share profit on average.
No, this is not directly relevant in the context of Wal-Mart and sex discrimination. But it does matter when interpreting yesterday's "quote of the day" about the court case. There are other ways prices could be held low.

Just for the sake of comparisons, some data on the salaries Wal-Mart pays can be found here.