TGT reported net sales increased 2.4% to $4.75 billion. Comparable store sales increased 1.8%. This missed analysts’ estimates of a 2.2% increase. This is the third consecutive month in which TGT has had a sales increase while not meeting analysts’ estimates.
Analysts at DB decreased their price target on TGT from $77 to $7. Analysts at Zacks Investment Research reiterated their “neutral” rating of TGT with a $55 price target. They attribute this rating to Target’s potential in gaining market share, focus on consumable items, effective cost management, etc.
TGT reported net sales for January increased 2.2% to $4.38 billion compared to January 2010. Comparable store sales increased 1.7%, which was less than analysts’ estimates of a 1.9% increase. TGT attributes this performance to poor sales in the South and Northeast but remains optimistic on its PFresh program to redesign its stores and the REDcard rewards program.
TGT reported net sales of $9.88 billion for the month, which is an increase of 1.4% from the same period a year ago. Same store sales increased by 0.9%, which were below analyst expectations of a 4% increase. However, the company expects a 2-4% increase in sales for the 4th quarter due to its relatively new REDcard Rewards program.
TGT reported that its third quarter earnings increased by 22.7% to $535 million. Revenue rose 2.2% to $15.61 billion. Third quarter will have 74 cents per share, which beat Wall Street earnings estimates of 68 cents per share. Sales increased 3% to $15.2 billion compared to the same period from a year ago. Comparable store sales increased 1.6%.
TGT's net retail sales were $4.64 billion for the month, which is an increase of 2.2% from the same period last year. October comparable store sales also increased 1.7% from October 2009. According to Steinhafel, Chairman and CEO of TGT, these sales were "near the low end of [their] expectations".
Target reported a 1.3% increase compared to August in comparable store sales and a 3.1% increase in net sales to $5.562 billion. These sales fell short of estimates of a 1.9% increase compared to last year. This was due to weaker performance in apparel sales.
Target reported that its net retail sales for the month ended August 28, 2010 were $5.02 billion, which is a 3.4% increase from $4.86 billion of August 2009. According to Gregg Steinhafel, chairman, president, and CEO of Target Corp, “August sales were in line with expectations” with strong performance in back-to-school, back-to-college, apparel, and food categories.
TGT reported that its net retail sales for the four weeks ended May 1, 2010 were $4,288 million, a decrease of 3.5 percent from $4,446 million for the four weeks ended May 2, 2009. On this same basis, April comparable-store sales decreased 5.9 percent.“April comparable-store sales were somewhat below our expectation. Based on our combined March and April results, we believe a greater-than-expected portion of sales that otherwise would have occurred in April were pulled forward into March,” said Gregg Steinhafel, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Target Corporation. “However, April sales in our higher margin categories remained particularly strong, and both of our business segments continued to outperform their respective profit plans for the first quarter."
Target Corp. expects its first-quarter earnings to beat analyst estimates because of surprisingly large March sales gains. For the month, the company's total sales rose 12.5 percent to $6.23 billion. Sales at stores open at least a year rose 10.3 percent in March on growth in clothing sales. The figure is a key measure of retailer performance because it shows growth at existing stores rather than from newly opened ones. Because of the boost, Target expects earnings per share for the quarter ending May 1 to beat analyst estimates by 10 cents.
Targets stock rose more than 5% in the week before Christmas as cash strapped consumers turn to the retail giant for low priced gifts.
TGT's CEO acquired 228K shares of the discount retailer on March 18th, bringing his total number of shares to 555.8K. It was his first open market purchase in six years. This could be a sign to investors saying that he still has confidence in Target's performance and that the retail slump may have bottomed out.
Target announced a regular quarterly dividend of 16 cents per share. This dividend will be payable June 10th.
Moody's has less confidence in TGT's performance during 2009 due to two main issues. First and foremost it had poor performance during 2008 and same-store sales decreased by 4.1% in February. In addition, the fact that it extends lines of credit to its customers exposes it to credit risk and lost revenue from delinquent credit card bills.
Target plans price cuts for the coming holiday season after weak sales have caused third-quarter earnings to fall 24%. In addition, if comp store sales continue the same trends, fourth quarter earnings will be below expectations.
Comparable store sales for May 2008 have decreased 0.7% from the previous month. Most of the decline can be attributed to sales volume decline, but some of this was offset with average sale size increases. Some of the weaker categories were men's apparel, jewelry, and lawn/patio.
Target, one of the last Big Box retailers to claim entire ownership of its credit card interest, has made the decision to sell about 40% interest in its credit card receivables to JP Morgan.
Target has been struggling to sell its credit card business with current credit market conditions being below desirable. Target's public struggle with the sale have hurt investors' confidence in the company, which saw its shares hit a 52 week low during trading Thursday December 20th.
Target reported a drop in their third quarter earnings, despite seeing total revenue grow about 9.3% compared to the same quarter of 2006. Revenue growth was driven primarily by new store openings combined with a 3% increase in same store sales growth and 19% growth in Target credit card revenues. However, despite growing revenues, sales in high-margin product categories such as apparel and home goods fell, leading to a 4.4% decrease in net profit in the quarter. Target’s management linked the falling sales in high-margin products to the struggling macroeconomic conditions that have hurt other retailers as consumers are less confident in the economy.
The decline in the subprime lending market causes Target's stock price to fall 5%, as investors feared that financial troubles would slow retail sales. This fear is seemingly corroborated by a report from the U.S. Commerce Department, reporting lower than expected Q1 sales growth at U.S. retailers.
Target's stock price jumps up after the company reports a 19% surge in fiscal fourth-quarter earnings. The better-than-expected earnings were spurred largely by strong credit card operations revenue.
The retail industry picks up as Q1 sales start strong. The better-than-expected growth in sales is attributed to a rise in consumer spending prompted by weak crude oil prices.
