BENTONVILLE, Ark.  -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT.N) on Thursday reported fiscal first-quarter earnings of US$3.04 billion.

On a per-share basis, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company said it had profit of US$1.

The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 96 cents per share.

The world's largest retailer posted revenue of $117.54 billion in the period, missing Street forecasts. Eight analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $117.63 billion.

For the current quarter ending in August, Wal-Mart expects its per-share earnings to range from $1 to $1.08. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had forecast adjusted earnings per share of $1.07.

In Canada, net sales increased 2.7 per cent and comp sales increased 1.5 per cent.

During the quarter, we reduced inventory levels even as sales increased, and according to Nielsen we continued to gain market share in key traffic driving categories like food and consumables & health and wellness," Brett Biggs Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. EVP & CFO, said. "Continued planned investments in price and in-store efficiency initiatives are being supported by progress with our cost analytics program."

Wal-Mart shares have risen roughly 9 per cent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has risen slightly more than 5 per cent. The stock has increased 15 per cent in the last 12 months.

-- With files from BNN