NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Thursday it expects its just-completed third quarter earnings to be at the upper end of earlier guidance despite sales that were below its earlier forecasts.

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The world's largest retailer's guidance had called for earnings per share of 52 to 54 cents. Analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call have a consensus EPS forecast of 52 cents.

The company's earnings are due to be released Nov. 16.

The company reported that sales for the four weeks ended Oct. 29 came to $13.9 billion, up 9.4 percent from the year-earlier period.

Sales at U.S. stores open at least a year, a closely-watched measure known as same-store sales, rose 2.8 percent for the month, down from the 4.5 percent gain in the year-earlier period.

The October same-store sales were in the lower half of its earlier target of a 2 to 4 percent rise in that key measure.

Still the October sales gain was the best in the quarter, which saw same-store sales rise only 0.5 percent in August and 2.4 percent in September.

For November, Wal-Mart said it expects comparable store sales to increase between 2 to 4 percent.

Shares of Wal-Mart (Research), a component of the Dow Jones industrial average, were down 0.5 percent in European trading immediately following the sales and earnings announcement.