NEW YORK - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Thursday reported second-quarter income virtually unchanged from a year ago, but results beat Wall Street expectations.

The world's largest retailer also raised the low end of its profit outlook as it benefits from a series of cost-cutting moves, particularly from inventory controls, and draws frugal shoppers away from rivals.

But Wal-Mart officials cautioned that the economy will continue to remain difficult in coming months, forcing their shoppers to keep buying less-expensive store label products and smaller-pack sizes. And they don't expect the holiday season to be dramatically better than last year.

"Overall, our customers are more disciplined in their spending," Mike Duke, Wal-Mart's president and chief executive, told investors during a pre-recorded call Thursday. "There's a new normal" of saving more and spending less, he added.

As for the holidays, Chief Financial Officer Tom Schoewe told reporters during a conference call he's "hopeful that it will be better than last year."

"Last year was a very very unusual time," he added.

Wal-Mart earned $3.44 billion, or 88 cents per share, in the quarter ended July 31. That compares with $3.45 billion, or 87 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue fell 1.4 percent to $100.08 billion.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters projected earnings per share of 85 cents on revenue of $102.9 billion.

Wal-Mart shares rose $1.11 to $51.62 in premarket trading, after closing at $50.51 Wednesday, as investors appeared pleased that the company was stepping up its cost cuts.

But same-store sales, or sales at stores opened at least a year, slipped 1.2 percent during the period, compared with a 4.3 percent gain in the year-ago period, whose sales were boosted by the distribution of government stimulus checks.

That figure provides the first glimpse of a key sales measurement in the quarter, because Wal-Mart stopped reporting those figures on a monthly basis after announcing April results. Schoewe noted that same-stores sales were also hurt by price deflation in dairy products as well as consumer electronics.

"In a sales environment more difficult than we expected, we managed our operations in a disciplined manner," Duke said in a statement. "Our U.S. segments delivered strong inventory performance, which contributed to the company's healthy increase in year-over-year earnings. We are accelerating our focus on reducing our expenses."

Schoewe told reporters that inventory at Wal-Mart U.S. stores was down 6 percent during the quarter from the year-ago period.