Walmart shares plunged sharply Wednesday after the U.S. retailing giant jolted financial markets by forecasting a 6% to 12% earnings drop in fiscal year 2017.<br />Shares of the Bentonville, Ark. company were down nearly 9.6% at $60.34 in afternoon trading on the unexpected news Walmart executives delivered at the company's annual investors conference with Wall Street analysts, held in New York City.<br />The analysts had expected Walmart to forecast higher earnings for the fiscal year that starts in February as the company battles chief rival Amazon and other competitors.<br />Instead, they heard a bleak outlook that triggered one of the largest ever declines in the value of the retailer's shares.<br />Separately, Walmart also announced a new $20 billion share buyback program over the next two years, and said the company had retired the $8.6 billion remaining on its 2013 repurchase authorization.
