Business Analytics

Walmart shareholders may wish the company were investigated more often, judging from the performance of shares since alleged violations by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act first surfaced.

Walmart share’s closed Friday at $65.55, or 5% higher than the $62.45 price they were trading at on Friday, April 20 before The New York Times first reported on allegations of FCPA violations.

Beaumont, Texas -- Conn's Inc. said Monday its first-quarter net income more than doubled, and the retailer raised its outlook for the year.

The retailer earned $11.6 million for the three months ended April 30, compared with $4.4 million in the same period last year, which included some one-time costs for severance payments. Revenue increased 5% to $200.9 million from $192 million, as same-sales surged 17.8%.

Same-store sales at Costco’s U.S. stores increased 5% during the four week period ended May 27.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Pier 1 Imports reported that sales for its first quarter ended May 26 increased 7.9% to $361 million from $335 million in the year-ago quarter. Comparable-store sales for the quarter were up 7.2%.

For the first quarter, the company is expecting  earnings per share are expected to be approximately 16 cents versus last year’s first quarter earnings of 12 cents per share.

Chelmsford, Mass. -- Kronos Inc. said Thursday that its Retail Labor Index for May, which characterizes the current state of the demand and supply sides of the labor market within the U.S. retail sector, rose to 4.1%. (This index is defined as the ratio of hires to applications within a given month, expressed as a percentage. A level of 3.0% means that for every 100 applications received, three hires occurred).

The May reading of the Retail Labor Index reflected a moderate decline in hiring outpaced by a sharp drop in applications.


New York -- J. Crew Group recorded a boost in first-quarter net income on strong sales. Profits nearly doubled to $30.7 million in the quarter ended April 28, from $16.2 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue grew 23% to $503.5 million, with same-store sales increasing 16%. Store sales were up 26% to $354 million, while direct sales grew 19% to $143.4 million.

New York -- Target and TJX Cos. both reported better-than-expected results in May, with a 4.4% and an 8% increase in same-store sales, respectively. Wall Street expected Target same-store sales to be up 3.5% in May and forecasted TJX sales to rise 5.3%.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — May sales at Fred's Inc. increased 6% to $152.1 million from $143.6 million in May 2011. Comparable-store sales for the month rose 1.3% compared with an increase of 0.2% in the same period last year.

Fred's total sales for the first four months of fiscal 2012 increased 4% to $652.6 million compared with $628 million for the same period last year. On a comparable-store basis, year-to-date sales increased 0.1% on top of an increase of 0.8% in the same period last year.

Hampstead, Md. -- Jos. A. Bank Clothiers reported Wednesday that net income for the quarter ended April 28 shrank to $14.8 million, from $17.8 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 4.2% to $201.4 million, from $193.3 million. Same-store sales dipped 1%.
 

St. Louis -- Brown Shoe Co. said Wednesday that CFO Mark Hood has resigned the company, effective June 11. Russ Hammer has been named the successor.

“I’m confident [Hammer] will be able to make an immediate contribution across the company and to the work we’ve been completing in our portfolio realignment efforts,” said Diane Sullivan, president and CEO.