What to Watch in Target’s Q4 Report

March 4, 2019 by Chris Lange

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) is scheduled to release its fiscal fourth-quarter financial results before the markets open on Tuesday. Consensus estimates call for $1.52 in earnings per share (EPS) and $22.96 billion in revenue. In the same period of last year, the retailer said it had $1.37 in EPS and $22.77 billion in revenue.

This is one of the largest discount retailers in the United States, operating roughly 1,800 Target stores across the country. The company sells merchandise in its Signature Categories Style, Baby, Kids and Wellness, as well as other products in both physical Target stores and online at Target.com.

Since 2017, Target has poured tons of money into its e-commerce offerings, overhauling its stores and refreshing its inventory to better compete against Amazon. Target has even embraced the same-day delivery concept and is expanding retail floor space for toys as it looks to scoop up market share after the closing of Toys “R” Us.

Most importantly, the company seems to have put some good distance between the headline issues that were public relations nightmares, and it continues to be a favorite destination of consumers.

Overall, Target has more or less performed in line with the broad markets and its stock is up about 10% year to date. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock is actually down 3%.

A few analysts weighed in on Target ahead of the report:

  • Citigroup has a Neutral rating and a $78 price target.
  • Tigress Financial has a Buy rating.
  • Telsey Advisory Group’s Outperform rating comes with an $86 target.
  • Morgan Stanley has an Underweight rating and a $60 price target.
  • Credit Suisse has an Outperform rating with a $79 price target.

Shares of Target were last seen trading at $72.88, in a 52-week range of $60.15 to $90.39. The consensus price target is $82.17.

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