Walmart suffers disappointing Christmas hit to results

American retail giant Walmart did not have a merry Christmas as disappointing toy and clothing sales hit the chain's bottom line, the company announced Tuesday.

Massive social unrest in Chile also undermined earnings, but the company has not yet been able to estimate the financial impact of the new coronavirus epidemic in China, where it has a large supply chain. In Chile, "unrest led to disruption in the majority of our stores which... negatively affected operating income by approximately $110 million," the company said, adding that it "continues to monitor the events" in the South American nation.

Global revenue increased 2.1 percent to $141.7 billion, below expectations for $142.5 billion. Comparable store sales in the US market, a key indicator for retailers, rose 1.9 percent, well below the gain analysts had projected and far slower than the 3.2 jump in the prior three months.

Revenue generated from the growing online sales component rose 35 percent, but that was also far slower than the 41 percent in the third quarter, despite several promotional operations, such as "Cyber Monday." Even with the disappointing results, Walmart posted a 12.3 percent gain in net income to $4.1 billion.