Target News Now

01/10/2011 - 21:00
January comps guidance confirmed

Despite December’s sales weakness, Target chairman, president and CEO Gregg Steinhafel confirmed the company’s fourth-quarter same-store sales forecast in the range of 2% to 4% and said January comps would be in the low- to mid-single digits. He also affirmed the fourth-quarter profit forecast by noting that the current median First Call estimate of $1.40 for Target’s fourth-quarter earnings per share is a reasonable estimate within a range of possible outcomes, as favorability in the corporation’s credit card segment performance and income tax rate are expected to offset a slight decline in its retail segment EBITDA margin rate.

01/10/2011 - 20:31
Improvements keep coming in credit portfolio

Trends in Target’s credit business continue to improve and delinquency rates in the portfolio are now at their lowest level in several years. Accounts 60 days past due in December represented 4.2% of the receivables portfolio, compared with 4.6% in November, and hit their lowest level since April 2008. The same was true of the 90-day delinquency rate where accounts 90 days past due in December accounted for 3.1% of the portfolio, compared with 3.3% in November, and hit their lowest level since July 2008.

01/10/2011 - 20:27
Rewards program gets circular treatment

Target remains aggressive in its marketing efforts to educate shoppers about the 5% REDcard, and this week ran a spread ad in its weekly circular. The ad is compelling with distinctive red dots in offset type calling out “5% off” and educating consumers about the program’s design in a way that can’t be matched by extensive in store signage dedicated to the program.

01/10/2011 - 20:25
Special on Target to air Thursday

Everything you ever wanted to know about Target -- or at least what the company was willing to share with CNBC camera crews -- will be available for viewing in a few days. The financial network is set to air the one hour show, “Target: Inside the Bullseye,” on Jan. 13 at 9 p.m. EST and again at 10 p.m., 12 a.m. and 1 a.m. The program will also re-air on Jan. 15 at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Can’t wait until Thursday to watch the show? Here’s a few clips:

01/06/2011 - 11:28
Target ekes out disappointing 0.9% comp in Dec.

Despite an easy prior-year comparison, Target fell short of its December same-store sales guidance with a disappointing 0.9% gain. The company had forecast December comps in the low to mid single-digit range after it released November results, which saw comps advance 5.5%. Analysts were expecting the company to report a 4% December gain.

01/03/2011 - 17:43
CNBC offers its take on Target

This should be interesting. “Target: Inside the Bullseye” is scheduled to air on CNBC Thursday, Jan. 13 at 9 p.m. EST. The documentary will repeat that evening at 10 p.m., 12 a.m. and 1 a.m. and will also re-air again on Jan. 15 at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.

01/03/2011 - 17:22
Baby got billboard thanks to Target

Not sure why parents of a newborn would want to share images of their child with throngs of people gathered in Times Square or motorists in Los Angeles, but in these celebrity-obsessed and digitally-enabled times a lot of behaviors defy logic.

Be that as it may, Target devised a novel brand-building campaign that allowed parent to essentially share images of their baby with a universe of complete strangers as opposed to the more discrete tradition of limiting viewings to family and a close knit group of friends.

01/03/2011 - 17:05
Rising tide lifts TGT.com boat

Target.com was second only to Walmart.com in terms of the number of unique visitors its website attracted this holiday season, and as such is well positioned to capture a large share of this year’s record online spending. Total online holiday sales advanced 13% to nearly $31 billion, according to the online measurement firm comScore. For the 56-day period beginning Nov. 1 through Dec. 26, comScore data showed consumers turned to the Internet in record numbers, especially on such key days as Thanksgiving, Cyber Monday and the final day of free shipping on Dec.17 when online volumes surged 61% to $942 million. This season saw its first billion-dollar sales day on Cyber Monday when sales hit $1,028 billion, a 16% increase from the prior year’s $887 million.

01/03/2011 - 17:01
Great Save underway online and in store

The Great Save promotion is back again at Target for the second year in a row. As was the case last year, the promotion is billed as something of a warehouse-club type shopping experience complete with sharp pricing on large-pack sizes combined with a little bit of the treasure hunt atmosphere to create the allure of discovering bargains.

01/03/2011 - 16:59
Getting back to even at Target

With Target set to release December sales results this Thursday, the issue isn’t whether the company’s results will be in line with expectations but the degree by which they are likely to exceed same-store sales guidance in the low- to mid-single digit range.

That guidance was thought to be rather conservative at the time it was released in early December for a couple of reasons.

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