Retail Stock Gainers: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.(NYSE:WMT), Costco Wholesale (COST), Sears Holdings (SHLD)

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.(NYSE:WMT)’s U.S. unit has said that it is confident of maintaining its growth momentum going into the holiday season, which usually sees a spike in sales.

The company said that it had a sound strategy for the holiday season and it would hasten the opening of small stores.

It said that the company as targeting online sales at $9 billion by 2014.

Shares in Wal-Mart have been on an uptick recently and on Wednesday it closed up 1.7 percent at $75.42, which is an all-time closing high for the company. In 2012, so far Wal-Mart shares have been the fourth best performer rising more than fourth, compared to the Dow which has risen 9.2 percent in the same period.

Wal-Mart U.S. said it planned to become more aggressive and raise its marketing and advertising campaigns.

It said that it would also use social media platforms such as Facebook and others to drive sales, such as allowing its 22 million Facebook fans to vote on toys they’d like to see “rollbacks,” or temporary discounts, on.

With regard to delivery services Wal-Mart has started same-day delivery services in the Bay area, Philadelphia, Minneapolis and Washington, D.C.

Wal-Mart is now competing with Amazon.com in the online space and has been increasing its presence there.

Wal-Mart U.S.’s comparable sales for the first half have risen 2.4 percent, as it increased traffic and gained market share, Bill Simon, head of Walmart U.S., said at the company’s annual analyst meeting.

Costco Wholesale Corporation(NASDAQ:COST) shares also outperformed and rose 1% in Wednesday’s session after the company posted better than estimated fourth quarter results. The company earned $609 million or $1.39 a share, topping analysts’ target by 8 cents a share.

Sears Holdings Corporation(NASDAQ:SHLD) climbed 0.80%. The stock has risen over 6% in the past one week.