Wal-Mart boosts forecast on higher earnings; shares up

Wal-Mart Stores reported higher second-quarter earnings and lifted its profit forecast Thursday after notching higher sales in the US.
Earnings for the quarter ending July 31 were $3.8 billion, up 8.6 percent from the year-ago period.
Sales were up 0.5 percent at $120.9 billion.
Wal-Mart scored higher comparable sales and customer traffic in the US, the linchpin of the company. The company has invested heavily in the last year and a half in higher wages for workers and in stronger e-commerce infrastructure.