How Target Barely Missed on Earnings

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) reported its fourth-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Wednesday. The company had $1.52 in earnings per share (EPS) on $21.6 billion in revenue, which compares to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates of $1.54 in EPS on revenue of $21.75 billion. In the same period of the previous year, the retailer posted EPS of $1.50 and $21.75 billion in revenue.

During the fourth quarter, comparable sales increased 1.9%, driven by traffic growth of 1.3%. Digital channel sales also increased 34%, contributing 1.3 percentage points to comparable sales growth.

In terms of guidance, the company expects first-quarter EPS to be in the range of $1.15 to $1.25, which compares to the consensus estimate of $1.19.

Target returned $1.6 billion to shareholders in the fourth quarter, comprised of $345 million in dividends and $1.26 billion in share repurchases.
[nativounit]
Brian Cornell, chairman and CEO of Target, commented on earnings:

With traffic growing for five consecutive quarters and our signature categories of Style, Baby, Kids, and Wellness leading our growth, Target’s results demonstrate that we are focused on the right strategic priorities,” “I want to thank our teams across the company for giving our guests a great holiday season, driving consistent growth throughout the fourth quarter and delivering on the sales and profit goals we laid out at the beginning of the year. While we have made a great deal of progress in 2015, we are excited about the opportunity in front of us to provide a more seamless experience and accelerate profitable growth.

On the books, cash, equivalents and short-term investments totaled $3.01 billion at the end of the fourth quarter, compared to $1.52 billion in the same period last year.

Shares of Target closed Tuesday up 2.1% at $73.99, with a consensus analyst price target of $82.14 and a 52-week trading range of $66.46 to $85.81. Following the release of the earnings report, the stock was up 2% at $75.48 in early trading indications Wednesday.