Minor Change, Big Impact.Just what impact can seemingly seem·ing adj. Apparent; ostensible. n. Outward appearance; semblance. seem  ing·ly adv. minor accounting changes have on a stock? Wal-Mart  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. found that out in mid-August when, in announcing its second-quarter earnings, it said it planned to revise its accounting practices for consumer layaways. The result was projected as a minor hit to third-quarter earnings of no more than two cents a share. What Wal-Mart said was that it would wait to record sales on layaway An agreement between a retail seller and a consumer that provides that the seller will retain designated consumer goods for sale to the consumer at a specified price on a future date, if the consumer deposits with the seller an agreed upon sum of money. items until the consumer paid off the entire balance, not when the sale itself was posted. The change was expected to affect about $400 million in sales, the company said. Whoops. Trigger-happy investors sold off the shares, which fell 7.6% on the day of the announcement, even though Wal-Mart said it expects that the change will probably lift earnings in the following quarter. And the selloff sell·off n. The sale or disposal of a relatively large number of stocks, bonds, or commodities that often causes a sharp decline in prices. Noun 1. came as Wal-Mart announced a quarterly net gain of 28% -- further proof that it doesn't take much to spook Wall Street these days. |
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