In this articleTGTFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTPeople are seen at the parking lot of a Target store in Selinsgrove. Paul Weaver | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesTarget on Wednesday missed Wall Street’s quarterly earnings and revenue expectations and posted only a slight uptick in customer traffic, despite the discounter’s price cuts on thousands of items and its early holiday sale. The big-box retailer reversed course and cut its full-year profit guidance, just three months after hiking that forecast. It said it expects full-year adjusted earnings per share to range from $8.30 to $8.90. That’s lower than the $9 to $9.70 per share range that it shared in August and below the $9.55 a share expected by analysts, according to StreetAccount.Target now expects fourth-quarter comparable sales to be approximately flat. That metric, which is also known as same-store sales, includes sales on its website and stores open at least 13 months. The company fell short of Wall Street’s earnings per share estimate by 20%, its biggest miss in two years. It also marked its first revenue miss since August 2023. Target’s shares plunged more than 21% on Tuesday, hitting a 52-week low. Its stock closed at $121.72, bringing the company’s market value to $56.07 billion.On a call with reporters, CEO Brian Cornell said “lingering softness in discretionary categories” and costs associated with rushing shipments and preparing for the short-lived port strike in October hurt the company’s quarterly performance. Chief Operating Officer Michael Fiddelke said, “it’s disappointing that a deceleration in discretionary demand combined with some cost pressures have caused us to take our guidance back down after raising it last quarter.” But he added that Target feels confident in its long-term outlook. Here’s what Target reported for the three-month period that ended Nov. 2 compared with what Wall Street expected, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:Earnings per share: $1.85 vs. $2.30 expectedRevenue: $25.67 vs. $25.90 billion expectedTarget, which is known for its cheap chic spin on clothing, home goods and other discretionary merchandise, has struggled to attract steady foot traffic and higher sales. Shoppers have been selective about spending after cumulative years of pricier food, housing and more. To woo price-sensitive consumers, Target announced in May that it would cut prices on about 5,000 frequently purchased items, including diapers, bread and milk. It announced another wave of price reductions in October on more than 2,000 items during the holiday season, including cold medicine, toys and ice cream.Target said it will have lowered prices on more than 10,000 items this year by the end of the holiday season.Target offered those discounts after hearing from shoppers about “the importance of value and affordability,” Chief Commercial Officer Rick Gomez said. He added the price cuts on frequency items leaves more room in customers’ budgets to splurge on products that they want, whether it’s a new outfit or beauty item.Yet those price reductions weren’t enough to lift Target’s performance in the fiscal third quarter. Target eked out a comparable sales gain of 0.3%, as shoppers spent more on its website but less at its stores. That fell short of the 1.5% increase that analysts expected, according to StreetAccount. [embedded content]Target’s fiscal third-quarter net income tumbled about 12% to $854 million, or $1.85 per share, from $971 million, or $2.10 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue rose from $25.40 billion in the year-ago period.Customer traffic across Target’s stores and website increased 2.4% year over year. Digital sales were a bright spot, growing 10.8% year over year because of double-digit gains with curbside pickup and almost 20% increases with same-day home deliveri …
