For many companies such as Target (TGT), Pier 1 Imports (PIR), Limited Brands (LTD), Gap (GPS), and others th
e holiday shopping season was even more disappointing then anticipated.
Although Wal-Mart's (WMT) December sales were an improvement over a dismal November, overall it was the worst holiday season on record for the mega retailer with a dismal .8 percent increase.
Rival discounter Target reported a 4.1 percent gain in same-store sales, just below the 4.5 percent estimate. Pier 1 suffered with a 10.7 percent drop in sales, Limited Brands had only a 4 percent gain below the 9.3 predicted by Wall Street and Gap reported an 8 percent drop, worse than the 5 percent estimate.
According to this NYTimes.com article, RetailMetrics LLC, a research company in Swampscott, Mass., said 23 retailers beat sales expectations, 25 missed estimates, and three stores matched projections out of the 51 stores that reported. 
Others stores reported better than expected sales such as Costco (COST) who posted a 9 percent gain, beating Wall Street's 5.7 percent estimate and Nordstrom (JWN) with the same 9 percent gain more than doubling their 4.3 percent forecast while Saks boasted an 11 percent increase, almost twice the 5.3 percent estimate.
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