Target (TGT, $77.15) Misses Earnings Expectation, But Shines on Sales
Target Corp.'s third quarter (Q3) earnings may have fallen short of analysts’ expectations a little, but its sales growth potentially speaks to the retail giant’s strength in an industry where competition is only getting intense.
Target's adjusted earnings-per-share came in at $1.09 for the quarter, up 20.2% from the year-ago period. Its missed estimates by 3 cents a share.
Same-store sales increased +5.1%, while comparable traffic growth was +5.3%. Its online sales surged +49% - adding 1.9 percentage points to comparable sales growth. Target’s total sales of $17.82 billion in Q3 topped analysts’ expected $17.80 billion.
What’s more, the retailer seems to be upping the “Target” for the holiday season, by offering free two-day shipping on all orders from November 1 to December 22. It is the second-largest department store retailer in the U.S., after Walmart.
Contributor
Sergey Savastiouk, Ph.D. has a degree in Applied Mathematics from Moscow University and has extensive experience as an entrepreneur, investor, manager, and mathematician. His professional expertise is in applied mathematics, mathematical modeling, system and pattern analysis, and software and hardware system integration. He has served as the CEO of several hi-tech start-up companies and nonprofit organizations, which has given him proven capabilities in business strategy for high-tech start-up companies, market assessment, company formation, team building, product development, marketing, and sales. He has published numerous articles in journals and magazines on related fields. As a retail investor, he spent 15 years developing his proprietary trading and quantitative algorithms (now Tickeron’s A.I.), which brought him significant returns in trading the stock market. His current work and goal in founding Tickeron is to bring professional, sophisticated stock market analysis capabilities to retail investors via an easy-to-use interface.
TGT's MACD Histogram just turned positive
The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) for TGT turned positive on July 27, 2026. Looking at past instances where TGT's MACD turned positive, the stock continued to rise in of 51 cases over the following month. The odds of a continued upward trend are .
Technical Analysis (Indicators)
Bullish Trend Analysis
Following a 3-day Advance, the price is estimated to grow further. Considering data from situations where TGT advanced for three days, in of 294 cases, the price rose further within the following month. The odds of a continued upward trend are .
The Aroon Indicator entered an Uptrend today. In of 219 cases where TGT Aroon's Indicator entered an Uptrend, the price rose further within the following month. The odds of a continued Uptrend are .
Bearish Trend Analysis
The RSI Indicator has been in the overbought zone for 2 days. Expect a price pull-back in the near future.
The Stochastic Oscillator has been in the overbought zone for 1 day. Expect a price pull-back in the near future.
Following a 3-day decline, the stock is projected to fall further. Considering past instances where TGT declined for three days, the price rose further in of 62 cases within the following month. The odds of a continued downward trend are .
TGT broke above its upper Bollinger Band on August 21, 2026. This could be a sign that the stock is set to drop as the stock moves back below the upper band and toward the middle band. You may want to consider selling the stock or exploring put options.
Fundamental Analysis (Ratings)
The Tickeron Price Growth Rating for this company is (best 1 - 100 worst), indicating outstanding price growth. TGT’s price grows at a higher rate over the last 12 months as compared to S&P 500 index constituents.
The Tickeron PE Growth Rating for this company is (best 1 - 100 worst), pointing to outstanding earnings growth. The PE Growth rating is based on a comparative analysis of stock PE ratio increase over the last 12 months compared against S&P 500 index constituents.
The Tickeron SMR rating for this company is (best 1 - 100 worst), indicating strong sales and a profitable business model. SMR (Sales, Margin, Return on Equity) rating is based on comparative analysis of weighted Sales, Income Margin and Return on Equity values compared against S&P 500 index constituents. The weighted SMR value is a proprietary formula developed by Tickeron and represents an overall profitability measure for a stock.
The Tickeron Valuation Rating of (best 1 - 100 worst) indicates that the company is slightly overvalued in the industry. This rating compares market capitalization estimated by our proprietary formula with the current market capitalization. This rating is based on the following metrics, as compared to industry averages: P/B Ratio (4.211) is normal, around the industry mean (7.193). P/E Ratio (17.162) is within average values for comparable stocks, (37.617). Projected Growth (PEG Ratio) (2.820) is also within normal values, averaging (2.850). TGT has a moderately high Dividend Yield (0.028) as compared to the industry average of (0.014). P/S Ratio (0.700) is also within normal values, averaging (1.065).
The Tickeron Profit vs. Risk Rating rating for this company is (best 1 - 100 worst), indicating that the returns do not compensate for the risks. TGT’s unstable profits reported over time resulted in significant Drawdowns within these last five years. A stable profit reduces stock drawdown and volatility. The average Profit vs. Risk Rating rating for the industry is 63, placing this stock worse than average.
Notable companies
Industry description
Market Cap
High and low price notable news
Volume
Fundamental Analysis Ratings
The average fundamental analysis ratings, where 1 is best and 100 is worst, are as follows
Advertisement
General Information
a department and discount store
Industry DiscountStores
Advertisement