Walmart

Thanks to some financial engineering, Sears Holdings overcame a double digit decline in same store sales to produce a second quarter profit or a less severe loss depending on the arithmetic used.

Target’s better than expected second quarter profits, same store sales, rate of e-commerce growth and an increased full year forecast stood in sharp contrast to the disappointing results Walmart reported a day earlier.

Veteran finance executive and former top Walmart executive Wan Ling Martello has joined the board of directors of Alibaba as the Chinese e-commerce giant eyes growth in the U.S.

Minneapolis – Target Corp. exceeded Wall Street projections with net earnings of $753 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2015, a 221% increase from $234 million the same period the prior fiscal year. Declining selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses and loss from discontinued operations helped boost profits as sales climbed.

Target reported net sales of $17.4 billion, up 2.8% over the same period last year.

Bentonville, Ark. -- In a shift to quality over quantity, Walmart has cut expansion plans for its Neighborhood Market stores despite the format’s consistently strong top line growth in recent years.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart saw respectable U.S. sales growth in the second quarter, but it wasn't enough to overcome expense pressures and a weak dollar. These negative factors caused the company to turn in one of its worst quarterly profit performances in recent memory.

 In a shift to quality over quantity, Walmart has cut expansion plans for its Neighborhood Market stores despite the format’s consistently strong top line growth in recent years.

Former Walgreens president and CEO Greg Wasson became the chain drug industry’s first executive to receive the Grocery Manufacturers Association’s highest honor.