NEW YORK (AP) — Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s CEO and President Mike Duke promised investors Thursday as it issued a modest forecast for U.S. expansion this year and next that the retailer's aggressive price-cutting will not hurt its stock price.

"We absolutely will have price leadership while at the same time greater shareholder value," said Mike Duke, who took the helm in February. "This is not about trading one for another. The two go hand and hand."

He continued, "We will win in the area of retailing around the world."

Duke was addressing investors on the second of two days of analyst meetings in Roger, Ark., near the company's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. The meetings were broadcast online.

The theme resonating from the meeting was how the world's largest retailer was cutting costs and reinvesting those savings to lower prices for shoppers, which in turn drives sales. The executives said that increased revenue will in turn increase efficiencies and lower costs further.

Intent on keeping its reputation as a low-price leader, even as other chains cut prices to compete for steadfastly conservative shoppers, the retailer announced Wednesday that it will cut prices weekly on top-selling items from bananas to board games and hold those cuts through the holiday season.

Company officials expect sales in the current fiscal year, which ends Jan. 31, to be 1 percent to 2 percent higher than the year before. That's down from the original estimate of 5 to 7 percent. They expect sales to accelerate from 4 percent to 6 percent in the following year.

Wal-Mart, which generated more than $400 billion in sales last year, also narrowed its guidance for square-footage growth this year, to 4 percent, or 38 million square feet, from the original estimate of 4 percent to 5 percent.

It expects its sales space to grow another 4 percent, or 37 million square feet, in fiscal 2011. Last year, the chain added 44 million square feet.

Wal-Mart says it will spend $12.5 billion to $13.1 billion on capital projects this fiscal year, compared with $11.5 billion last year and $13 billion and $15 billion budgeted for next fiscal year.

Shares of Wal-Mart slipped 15 cents Thursday to close at $50.48, near the midpoint of their 52-week range from $46.25 to $59.23.

Wal-Mart officials reiterated earlier statements about building smaller and fewer but more efficient stores in the U.S. The company is remodeling stores faster than originally planned because the effort is helping retain existing customers and attract new ones.

Wal-Mart's Sam's Club chain is testing a new prototype that offers more everyday items like produce and health and beauty supplies while cutting back on most general merchandise like furniture, large appliances and DVDS. The categories Sam's Club is expanding have higher sales and gross profit returns per square foot than the overall average for Sam's Club, company officials said.

Sam's Club CEO and president Brian Cornell said these changes will make stores less expensive to run.

Internationally, however, Wal-Mart is stepping up its growth, particularly in emerging markets like China and Brazil.