the goal Holiday sales Tuesday beat Wall Street earnings expectations for the first time in a year. same time a year ago.
Still, large retailers have given conservative full-year outlooks, saying customers are throwing arbitrary items into their shopping carts less and less.
The company said it expects Equivalent sales, a key metric that tracks in-store and online sales that have been open for at least 13 months, range from a low-single-digit decline to a low-single-digit increase in fiscal 2023. Between $7.75 and $8.75. That was below Wall Street expectations of $9.23 per share, according to StreetAccount estimates.
CEO Brian Cornell said: In a release, the company said it performed well, with sales of groceries, beauty and home products growing as consumers focused on essentials despite a “very challenging environment.”
Cornell will share details of its plans for this year’s target at Investor Day in New York City later Tuesday morning.
Here’s what Target reported on its finances 4th quarter It ended on Jan. 28, compared to Refinitiv’s consensus estimate.
- Earnings per share: $1.89 vs $1.40 expected
- Earnings: $31.4 billion vs. expected $30.72 billion
The company has topped the top and bottom lines, but cleared standards that have dropped significantly in recent months.
The big box retailer, known for its low-priced, trendy clothing and home goods, saw its sales skyrocket in the first two years of the pandemic. Its total annual revenue grew from fiscal 2019 to his fiscal 2022 by about $31 billion, or nearly 40%.
But over the past year, Target has faced changes in both sales dynamics and market sentiment.Discounters have become poster children for the industry Inventory troubles, pressure on profit margins and concerns Middle-income consumers struggling with inflationThe company has warned investors after underperforming Wall Street earnings expectations for the first three quarters of the fiscal year. Expecting weak sales during the year-end sales season.
Target’s net income for the November-January period declined approximately 43% to $876 million, or $1.89 per share, from $1.54 billion ($3.21) for the year-ago period. rice field.
Comparable store sales, also known as comparable store sales, increased 0.7% in the fourth quarter. This beat Wall Street’s expectations of a 1.6% decline, according to StreetAccount estimates.
Customer traffic, including online and in-store, increased by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, while Target’s average ticket was broadly flat.
Sales of need-based products increased in the fourth quarter, according to Target. Food and beverages made up the strongest category, with comparable sales showing his low double-digit year-over-year growth. Essentials and beauty were up in the high single digits, while some discretionary-focused categories, such as home goods and apparel, were down, though the company didn’t specify the amount.
The company’s private brands were often cheaper than national brands and grew at a faster pace than overall sales.
One of Target’s weakest points is its profit margins, which are being squeezed by price cuts and rising supply chain costs.Target last summer Announced aggressive inventory plan Clear away unnecessary items.
Its inventory levels are in better shape than in the previous quarter and are down Q4 sales increased by 3% year-on-year. Its inventory was up about 14% year-over-year in the third quarter. 36% in Q2 and 43% in Q1.
Target says the product mix is also different. Inventory in the discretionary category was down about 13% compared to a year ago, as retailers ordered more frequent items like food and paper towels.
However, the company fell short of its goal of delivering healthier profit margins. He had promised an operating profit margin of around 6% in the second half, but When it lowered its earnings outlook for the second time in JuneAccording to StreetAccount estimates, the target’s operating margin of 3.7% in the fourth quarter was lower than the 3.9% in the third quarter, but above the 3.1% demanded by Wall Street.
Target now says it plans to return to its pre-pandemic rate of 6% after next fiscal year, depending on the economic backdrop and consumer demand.
Target stock is down nearly 40% from its all-time high. It closed Monday at $166.81 per share, giving it a market value of nearly $77 billion. But so far this year, the company’s stock is up about 12%, outpacing the S&P 500’s nearly 4% growth.
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/28/target-tgt-earnings-q4-2022.html Target (TGT) Revenue Q4 2022