Target's Strong Back-To-School Sales Boosts Q3 Earnings

Shares of Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) gained more than 6 percent early Wednesday morning after the company reported its third quarter results.

• EPS of $1.04 beat estimates by $0.21 per share.
• Revenue of $16.44 billion was$0.14 billion more than expected.
• Comparable store sales fell 0.2 percent versus management's guidance of flat to down 2 percent.
• Digital channel sales rose by 26 percent.
• Management cited "unexpectedly strong sales" in back-to-school category.
• Company returned $1.2 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.

Outlook

• Target expects Q4 comparable sales to be in the range of negative 1.0 percent to positive 1.0 percent.
• Target previously guided its Q4 comparable sales to be negative 2 percent to flat.
• Target guided its Q4 EPS to a range of $1.55 to $1.75 versus consensus estimate of $1.60.
• Target revised its full year 2016 EPS to a range of $4.67 to $4.87 from a prior range of $4.36 to $4.75.