Walmart beats Q4 expectations, reports strong sales during holiday season

Walmart on Tuesday reported strong sales during the holiday season as budget-conscious consumers looking for better deals flocked to its stores.

The report was a good showing for the company, considering consumers had overall cut back on their spending during the traditional November-December shopping period.

Though sales rebounded at stores and restaurants last month, showing shoppers are still spending despite higher prices and several interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve in an effort to curb the problem.

The nation's largest retailer also delivered full-year sales of $611.3 billion, up 6.7% compared to the prior year.

But it gave cautious guidance for the next fiscal year, saying it expects sales to increase between 2.5% to 3% and U.S. sales to jump 2% to 2.5%.

And it forecast adjusted earnings per share ranging from $5.90 to $6.05, excluding fuel.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet forecast $6.52 per share, on average. Shares fell more 4% in premarket trading.

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