For instance, Wal-Mart raised wages for worker and is expanding its online grocery options.
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Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon said their employees deserved the wage increases but that they might not have been clear enough in explaining the highest costs from those increases.
The disappointing guidance comes as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. works to fix its US business amid pressure from rivals including traditional grocers, dollar stores and Amazon.com.
Retail analysts wonder whether Wal-Mart can sustain the revised forecasts despite its heavy investment in internet technology and raising salaries.
In all, the company says the wage hikes will add $1.2 billion to its payroll this year and $1.5 billion next year.
Wal-Mart continues to have difficulties with slow sales, leading investor to look for substantial modifications. For its next fiscal year, it said profit could fall by as much as 12%.
Wal-Mart’s fiscal year begins February 1 but is named for January in which it ends; its current fiscal year, then, is 2016. The retail chain also said its board has authorized $20 billion in stock buybacks and it’s actively reviewing its portfolio for ways to streamline the business.
The company also pointed to a bigger-than-expected hit from adverse foreign-exchange rates on its sales growth.
The company revised down earnings figures for this year as well, predicting growth would be flat, rather than the previously forecast growth of 1%-2%.
It posted a 4.7% fall in like-for-like sales for the 11 weeks to June 30, against a turbulent background as established United Kingdom supermarkets battle competition from discounters and low price inflation.
NYSE:WMT has also been investing $1 billion to make modifications in its website, launching new distribution centers, meant to accelerate the delivery of orders placed online. The company’s stock is down more than 28 percent this year.
Wal-Mart also announced a $20 billion share buyback but the drop in its share price wiped out close to the same amount in market value, and the intra-day low of $60.18 put the stock on track for its worst one-day performance in more than 17 years.
Among other big decliners, shares of Boeing dropped 4.3 percent to $134.22.
Walmart, which has been struggling with sluggish sales, announced a new chief financial officer and appointed a chief merchant last week.
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Under McMillon, Walmart has accelerated the pace of smaller store openings and stepped up its e-commerce efforts.
