Wal-Mart Profits Surge 17%

Wal-Mart's second-quarter profits surged 17%, spurred by bargain-hunting shoppers and tax-rebate checks, reports Bloomberg. The world’s largest retailer also revised its full-year estimates upward, while cautioning that rising energy and food costs make the outlook more volatile from week to week. The company said its net income rose to $3.45 billion from $2.95 billion a year ago.

Wal-Mart had lured  tax-rebate spenders by offering to cash the checks for free, and had dressed up displays of things like flat-panel TVs and apparel to attract consumers trading down from other retailers. "In the US, they've undertaken a big turnaround," one fund manager tells Bloomberg. "Their stores are cleaner and better stocked.'' Nationwide, sales at retailers dropped in July for the first time in five months. (More Walmart stories.)