Wal-Mart and TJX report solid 1st-quarter profit gains

"The stimulus checks may give you some bump, but after that filters through, where is the growth going to come from?" said Ken Perkins, president of RetailMetrics LLC, a research company in Swampscott, Mass..

Wal-Mart -which has increased discounting to grab a larger share of the tax rebate spending -said in a conference call that it was too early to determine the impact the checks may have on its business.

Adrianne Shapira of Goldman Sachs wrote in a report that the discounter's earnings outlook may be too conservative because it didn't factor in the benefits from the checks, however.

Wal-Mart earned $3.02 billion, or 76 cents per share, in the three months ended April 30, up from $2.83 billion, or 68 cents per share, a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had projected earnings of 75 cents per share.

The company had overall revenue of $95.30 billion, up 10.3 percent from $86.41 billion in the prior year. International sales rose 22 percent.

Analysts projected revenue of $93.47 billion for the quarter.

Wal-Mart Chief Financial Officer Tom Schoewe said the company expects second-quarter sales in stores open at least a year to be up no more than 2 percent. He said the company expects to earn between 78 cents per share and 81 cents per share versus analysts' projections of 81 cents a share.

"Higher transportation costs will remain a potential headwind for us the rest of the year," Schoewe said.

Framingham, Mass.-based TJX, operator of 2,595 stores, said its net income in the three months ended April 26 rose to $193.8 million, or 43 cents per share, compared with a profit of $162.1 million, or 34 cents per share, in last year's first quarter.