Alas, those same long-suffering consumer discretionary investors were in for more disappointment when the retailing giant reported earnings that generally beat on revenue and earnings, and even though it raised its previous guidance, the numbers came in shy of Wall Street estimates which in turn sent its stock tumbling.

Let's take a closer look at what WMT reported, starting with Q3 historicals:

Adjusted EPS $1.53 vs. $1.50 y/y, just barely beating the (previously lowered) consensus estimate of $1.52
Revenue $160.80 billion, +5.2% y/y, beating the estimate of $159.13 billion (global eCommerce net sales hit $24
billion, reaching 15% of net sales; they were up 15% led by pickup and delivery)
Total US comparable sales ex-gas +4.7%, beating the consensus estimate +3.35%
Walmart-only US stores comparable sales ex-gas +4.9%, beating consensus estimate +3.46%
Sam's Club US comparable sales ex-gas +3.8%, beating estimate +3.66%

The increase in Walmart's comp store sales was notable because both Target and Home Depot reported declines in that metric this week, as consumers continued to pull back from discretionary purchases.

So far so good, and if that was the extent of it the stock would probably be soaring now. However, what the market threw up all over was the company's disappointing guidance (which was raised but still failed to meet consensus estimates), as well as its cautious tone about the outlook for US shoppers after signs of weakness at the end of October.