What Do Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT)’s Results Say for Retail?

While Wal-Mart seems quick to blame the economy; there may be other factors at work. Both Dollar General and Dollar Tree have positioned themselves for price leadership and pursued aggressive expansion, hitting Wal-Mart on its own turf. For its part, Dollar General laid out plans to continue expanding, with intentions to add 635 new stores as well as 6,000 more employees. This expansion comes on the heels of a similarly sized expansion in 2012 and 21% earnings growth in its most recently reported quarter.

In addition, Wal-Mart has slowly lost ground to Target on the price front as well. As Target has pushed into food and put a bigger emphasis on cheaper consumables, the Minnesota-based firm has managed to take the lead often enough to warrant a few headlines confirming as much. Losing the pricing battle when Target already is perceived as providing a higher-end retail experience is a big issue for Wal-Mart, even if Target isn’t consistently a low price leader.

Despite Wal-Mart’s size, it is unclear whether its results and subsequent forecast reveal much about retail in the near term. While the company did highlight potential economic pressures, it is also facing pressures of its own that may play a larger role in its near-term performance. The company is facing competition on several fronts, and that may be the primary cause for the flat forecasts.

The article What Do Wal-Mart’s Results Say for Retail? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Chris Moore.

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