What to Expect When Target Reports Wednesday
Target is scheduled to release its fiscal first-quarter financial results before the markets open on Wednesday and analysts are looking for solid year-over-year growth.
Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT | TGT Price Prediction) is scheduled to release its fiscal first-quarter financial results before the markets open on Wednesday. The consensus estimates are calling for $1.43 in earnings per share (EPS) and $17.5 billion in revenue. The same period of last year reportedly had $1.32 in EPS and $16.78 billion in revenue.
In terms of guidance for this past quarter, Target previously said that it expects to see a low- to mid-single-digit increase in comparable sales and EPS in the range of $1.32 to $1.52.
In its prior quarterly report, Target noted that comparable sales grew 5.3%. Stores comparable sales grew 2.9%, while comparable digital sales grew 31%, contributing 2.4 percentage points to comparable sales growth.
Merrill Lynch recently issued a fairly positive call on Target, as analysts believe that Target is currently priced right to buy going into the summer months. The brokerage firm issued a Buy rating with a price objective of $100.
Excluding Tuesday’s move, Target has underperformed the broad markets, with its stock up about 9% year to date. In the past 52 weeks, the stock is actually down about 5%.
A few other analysts weighed in on Target ahead of the report:
- Morgan Stanley has an Equal Weight rating and a $67 target.
- Sanford Bernstein has a Market Perform rating.
- Barclays has an Overweight rating with a $115 price target.
- Telsey Advisory Group has an Outperform rating and a $92 target.
- Gordon Haskett has a Buy rating.
Shares of Target were last seen up about 1% at $72.84, in a 52-week range of $60.15 to $90.39. The consensus price target is $86.60.
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Chris Lange is a financial and geopolitical writer with more than a decade of experience covering a myriad of topics. He has published thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St., with past coverage focused heavily on stocks, IPOs, healthcare, defense, global affairs, and technology.
His work has been quoted, or referenced by a number of outlets including Business Insider, USA Today, Yahoo Finance, MSN, The Motley Fool, and many other publications. A graduate of Southwestern University, he studied business with a focus on investments and has previous experience in banking and startups.
When not reading or writing the news, he is following his passion for Lacrosse, playing chess, or building solar projects with his dad.
