Wal-Mart's 4Q profit falls 21%

Even the holiday season couldn't save Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s (NYSE: WMT) fourth-quarter profits, which dropped 21 percent.

This marks the fourth consecutive quarter of revenue declines for stores open at least a year.

The Associated Press reports the Bentonville, Ark.-based company offered a weak profit outlook, signaling it expects economic pressures to keep weighing on its low-income shoppers around the world.

Wal-Mart earned $4.43 billion, or $1.36 per share, in the quarter ended Jan. 31. That compares with $5.6 billion, or $1.67 per share, a year earlier. Net revenue was up 1.4 percent to $128.79 billion.

The AP reports the nation's largest retailer said it would speed up growth plans for its smaller stores under the Neighborhood Market and Wal-Mart Express brands and will now open 270 to 300 small stores during the current fiscal year, double the initial forecast for adding 120 to 150 stores.

Read more from the Associated Press.