Walmart shares fell 8% yesterday, on November 16, as the retailer warned consumers to continue tightening their belts. While Q3 earnings ($1.53 per share) and revenue ($160.8 billion) were slightly above Wall Street expectations, Walmart quickly disappointed by issuing a full-year profit forecast of $6.40-$6.48, below the average estimate of $6.50, and Walmart also said it expected profits this year to be less than anticipated. Indeed, there was evidence that consumer spending was below average, reminding us of the uncertainty in the U.S. economy and causing the retail giant's stock price to surge: in terms of the U.S. retail sales in October, there was a rare decline, down 0.1% from September.

All in all, WMT’s net profit reached nearly $8 billion, compared with $5.1 billion last year. This increase was primarily due to a more favorable like-to-like environment and lower product discounts.

Better-than-expected results in the second quarter prompted WMT to raise its full-year forecast. Full-year sales were up 4% to 4.5% in constant currency, with Q3 net sales up about 3% in constant currency. Again, having said all that, Walmart shares fell profoundly by 8%, posting the third-biggest decline among S&P 500 companies on Thursday.