Target Reports Q4 Miss, But Guidance Is Ahead Of Expectations

Shares of Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) were trading lower by 1.31 percent after the company reported its fourth quarter results.

Target said it earned $1.52 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $21.6 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.54 per share on revenue of $21.75 billion.

Target noted that its fourth quarter sales fell 0.6 percent from a year ago as a 1.9 percent boost in comparable sales was more than offset by the impact of the sale of its pharmacy and clinical business to CVS Health.

Digital sales in the quarter grew 34 percent year-over-year and contributed 1.3 percentage points to the quarterly comparable sales growth.

Net earnings for the quarter rose to $1.426 billion from a net loss of $2.640 billion a year ago as last year's quarter included impairment losses and other charges related to the company's plans to exit its operation in Canada.

Looking forward to fiscal 2016, Target expects to earn $5.20 to $5.40 per share for the full fiscal year which exceeded Wall Street's estimates of $5.16 per share. However, the company guided its first quarter earnings to a range of $1.15 to $1.25 per share - short of the $1.54 per share analysts were estimating.

"With traffic growing for five consecutive quarters and our signature categories of Style, Baby, Kids, and Wellness leading our growth, Target's results demonstrate that we are focused on the right strategic priorities," said Brian Cornell, chairman and CEO of Target. "I want to thank our teams across the company for giving our guests a great holiday season, driving consistent growth throughout the fourth quarter and delivering on the sales and profit goals we laid out at the beginning of the year. While we have made a great deal of progress in 2015, we are excited about the opportunity in front of us to provide a more seamless experience and accelerate profitable growth."