May 7 (Bloomberg) -- Kohl’s Corp., BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. and other U.S. retailers said first-quarter preliminary earnings exceeded their forecasts after April sales signaled shoppers are returning to stores.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, said sales at U.S. stores open at least a year rose 5 percent. The company had forecast as much as 3 percent growth for the quarter. Sales at clothing chain Aeropostale Inc. climbed 20 percent, more than twice the average analyst estimate in a survey by Retail Metrics Inc. Gap Inc. also beat projections.

April consumer sentiment rose to its highest level since before the collapse of the credit markets last year and applications for jobless benefits in the week ended May 2 dropped to their lowest since late January. The Easter holiday and tax refunds also may have played a part in propelling spending, according to Sarah Henry, a retail analyst with MFC Global Investment Management.

“I think we’re back,” Henry, who is based in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, said in a telephone interview today. “Things were better than expected among the discounters and stores with a value message.”

Retail Metrics said comparable-store sales rose 1.5 percent in April, only the second gain since September. Averaging April and March together to exclude the effect of the shifting Easter holiday, sales declined 0.2 percent. Excluding Wal-Mart and drugstore chains, sales dropped 4.5 percent, Swampscott, Massachusetts-based Retail Metrics said today.

Wal-Mart rose 38 cents to $49.89 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Kohl’s, based in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, added 52 cents to $44.25. Natick, Massachusetts-based BJ’s jumped $3.49, or 10 percent, to $37.47.

Wal-Mart Reports to End

Wal-Mart’s results exclude sales of gasoline. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company also said today it will no longer report monthly sales, citing volatility caused by the shifting of holidays and other events from year to year.

Some chains continued to use promotions to draw customers. Aeropostale was selling two tank-tops for the price of one and half-price swimwear. Gap’s Banana Republic chain advertised 50 percent off accessories, while American Eagle Outfitters Inc. promoted shorts for less than $25.

Gap sales declined 4 percent, compared with the 8 percent drop projected by analysts in the Retail Metrics survey. American Eagle slid 5 percent, less than 7.8 percent average estimate.

Kohl’s Boost

Kohl’s, which also reported better-than-predicted April sales, said it would now post a profit of as much as 44 cents a share for the first quarter, up from a previously announced maximum of 34 cents. BJ’s said it expects to earn as much as 45 cents a share, up from a previous ceiling of 33 cents, after merchandise sales in the past three months came in higher than the company expected.

The Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment rose to 65.1 last month from 57.3 in March, the biggest gain in more than two years. The index reached a three- decade low of 55.3 in November. Applications for jobless benefits dropped by 34,000 to 601,000 last week, figures from the U.S. Labor Department showed today.

The International Council of Shopping Centers said that April same-store sales rose 0.7 percent, the first gain since September. The New York-based trade group measures sales at about 40 retail chains.

“We’re still working our way through the slowdown,” said Mike Niemira, chief economist at the ICSC. “It will get better as the year progresses. The month of May will still be tough and I suspect by the summer that things will be a little broader in terms of the improvement.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Cotten Timberlake in Washington at ctimberlake@bloomberg.net; Allison Abell Schwartz in New York at aabell@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 7, 2009 16:29 EDT