Target shares have climbed 58% so far this year after a strong fiscal first quarter and a sharply raised sales outlook. Wall Street now expects the retailer to report fiscal second-quarter results on Aug. 19, a report that will show whether the turnaround under CEO Michael Fiddelke is holding up.
Target shares trade at $154.48, down 0.66% on the day, after a run that has taken the stock from a broadly declining performance in prior years. The retailer's market capitalization now sits near $70 billion, and shares carry a dividend yield of 2.96%.
Q1 growth reversed a long slide
Total revenue rose 6.7% year over year in Target's fiscal first quarter, which ended in early May. The gain came in part from a 4.4% increase in foot traffic, which drove same-store sales growth of 5.6%. Analysts don't expect the second quarter to grow quite as fast, but the company itself has stayed optimistic.
When it reported in May, Target doubled its full-year sales growth guidance to around 4% from a prior forecast of around 2%. Management is also looking for fiscal 2026 earnings per share between $7.50 and $8.50, while the analyst consensus sits at $8.43 a share.
Aug. 19 is the next test
Target hasn't officially confirmed a reporting date, but most analysts expect the company to post second-quarter results on Aug. 19. For that quarter, the analyst community expects revenue of $26.08 billion and earnings per share of $2.30.
Those numbers will either affirm or call into question whether Target stays on track to hit its full-year guidance. Recent buyers of the stock are essentially betting that it does, with some also hoping for numbers that beat expectations. Still, one quarter alone won't settle the long-term case for the stock either way.
Source: Fool
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