Target: consensus exceeded, but cautious outlook for 2025

(CercleFinance.com) - On Tuesday, Target reported a better-than-expected profit for its fourth quarter, but its forecasts were cautious due to the expected impact of the Trump administration's tariff surcharges.


The US retailer saw its sales for the three months to the beginning of February reach $30.9 billion, down 3.1% on the same quarter of the previous year, which included one more week of activity.

On a like-for-like basis, sales rose by 1.5% over the quarter, with a 0.5% decline in store sales more than offset by an 8.7% jump in online sales.

Operating income contracted by 21.3% to $1.5 billion, but earnings per share (EPS) came in at $2.41, above the consensus forecast of $2.06.

In its press release, Target nonetheless indicated that it expected its first-quarter profitability to come under pressure from weaker consumer sentiment, a further decline in sales and the possible impact of new tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, which came into force yesterday.

For its new financial year, the Minneapolis (Minnesota)-based group is forecasting sales growth of around 1%, which corresponds to a broadly stable trend on a like-for-like basis.

As for adjusted EPS, it is expected to be in the range of $8.80 to $9.80.

The share lost more than 3% on Tuesday morning in pre-market trading in the wake of this publication.

Copyright (c) 2025 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.