MEMO: WAL-MART HITS $2 BILLION EARNINGS MARK

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, managed to cross the $2 billion earnings mark for the first time despite what executives described as a "challenging environment." The fourth-quarter results beat Wall Street expectations.

For the three months ended Jan. 31, Wal-Mart earned $2.004 billion, or 45 cents per share, up 4.5 percent from $1.92 billion, or 43 cents per share, in the year-ago period, the Bentonville-based company said Tuesday. Analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial were expecting 44 cents per share.