Target sales dinged by shortened holiday season
NEW YORK (AP) - Target reported strong fourth-quarter profits, though its sales were weighed down weak toy and electronics sales during the crucial holiday shopping season.
Target joins a string of other retailers, including Walmart, with disappointing sales during the shortest holiday shopping period since 2013.
Retailers already dealing with higher costs from an ongoing trade war with China struggled to get potential shoppers through the doors sooner, and the start of 2020 doesn't appear to be offering much relief. The coronavirus has spread beyond China after disrupting supply chains there, and is now hampering operations in the United States.
The Minneapolis retailer canceled its New York investors meeting Tuesday and will broadcast the event from Minnesota. Target, like other companies, has limited corporate travel because of the virus.
Industry analysts will be tuned in to further potential disruptions from the virus during that conference call.
Target delivered net earnings of $834 million, or $1.65 per share, for the three-month period ended Feb. 1. That compares with $799 million, or $1.52 per share in the year-ago period. Revenue rose 1.8% to $23.13 billion. Analysts were expecting $1.65 per share on revenue of $23.44 billion, according to FactSet.
Comparable sales rose 1.5%. That included online sales growth of 20% in the period. That marked its 11th consecutive quarter of comparable sales growth. Same-day services including picking up orders at the store or curbside, accounted for more than 80%.
Target also put out its annual profit projections. The bottom of the range is a little lower than investors were anticipating and shares headed lower before the opening bell Tuesday.
Shares of Target Corp. fell 2.2%, or $2.42 per share, to $106.54 in premarket trading.