Brian Sozzi Suggests Target May Soon Decide On Canada

The new Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) “Chairman and CEO Brian Cornell is poised to make one of the biggest decisions of his professional career: whether to pull his new employer completely out of Canada, where it currently has 133 stores,” according to Belus Capital Advisors' Brian Sozzi.

On the company’s third quarter conference call in November, Cornell commented: "We know that to succeed in Canada we will need a major step change in performance, and the fact is, given where we are performing today, we need to see improved financial performance from every Target store in Canada over time."

Sozzi explained that “the decision on whether to completely leave Canada by unloading stores or vacating the worst-performing spots will be made after Target threw the kitchen sink at righting the ship this past holiday season.

"According to Target," Sozzi added, "of the 70,000 items offered for sale in one of its Canadian stores, roughly 30,000 items were new for the holiday season. Target added more exclusive items and designer partnerships to boost what it calls ‘newness’."

Target Canada’s future may become more clear on the company's fourth quarter earnings call, which is scheduled for February 25.

Target Corporation recently traded at $75.10, down 1.07 percent.

Image credit: Mike Mozart, Flickr