News

WAYNE, N.J. — Toys“R”Us is looking to become a bigger player in the consumer electronics space by announcing the expansion of key categories and dedicated store space.

NEW YORK — With fewer retailers following in Walmart's footsteps in not disclosing monthly sales, it has become harder to gauge the overall health of the industry. Still, enough of them reported this monht to show that consumer spending slowed in October, sending a note of caution as retailers head into the holiday season. Eleven retailers missed expectations for same-store sales, while three chains beat estimates, according to a preliminary tally by Thomson Reuters.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark on Thursday reported solid third-quarter results — 2 cents above the high end of its guidance range — driven in large part by been tter-than-expected performance in its pharmacy benefit management, which is in the midst of a profit-improvement plan.

Purchase, N.Y. -- October’s unusual weather patterns — an unseasonably warm first half of the month and a snow storm on the last Saturday of the month — may have pushed some spending into November, according to MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, a macroeconomic report tracking national retail and service sales across all payment forms including cash and check.

NEW YORK — Consumer spending slowed in October, sending a note of caution as retailers head into the holiday season. Eleven retailers missed expectations for same-store sales, while three chains beat estimates, according to a preliminary tally by Thomson Reuters. However, while the October results were not as promising as some retailers had hoped, sales for the most part rose and most chains reported results that were only slightly off from analysts’ estimates. Some analysts blamed Wall Street for underestimating how much caution is still out there.

Woonsocket, R.I. -- CVS Caremark Corp.’s third-quarter profit rose 7.3%, to $868 million, driven by strong performances in its pharmacy businesses. Its performance topped Wall Street expectations.

Revenue for the three-month period ended September 30, 2011, rose 12% to $26.67 billion, from $23.71 billion.

Revenue in its pharmacy-services segment increased 26% $14.8 billion, boosted by a contract with Aetna Inc. and added business from the acquisition of Universal American Corp.'s Medicare prescription drug business.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target reported October sales growth that fell short of analysts expectations, while uncertainty remains following the recent departure of the company's CFO.

Target reported that its net retail sales for the four weeks ended Oct. 29 were $4.8 billion, an increase of 4.3% from $4.6 billion for the four weeks ended Oct. 30, 2010. On this same basis, comparable-store sales increased 3.3% in October and 4.3% in the third quarter.

Austin, Texas -- Whole Foods Market reported that its fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 31% to $75.5 million on higher sales, beating analysts' expectations. But the company's outlook for next year's profit fell just short of what analysts forecast on average.

Revenue increased 12% to $2.35 billion.