S&P 500 component Target Corporation reported its results for the fourth quarter. Target operates general-merchandise and food discount stores in the United States.
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Target Earnings Cheat Sheet for the Fourth Quarter
Results: Net income for the discount store fell to $981 million ($1.45 per share) vs. $1.03 billion ($1.45 per share) a year earlier. This is a decline of 5.2% from the year-earlier quarter.
Revenue: Rose 3.3% to $20.94 billion from the year-earlier quarter.
Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: Target Corporation reported adjusted net income of $1.49 per share. By that measure, the company beat the mean estimate of $1.39 per share. Analysts were expecting revenue of $21.2 billion.
Quoting Management: “Target generated strong financial performance in 2011, overcoming sluggish economic growth, restrained consumer spending and an intensely promotional holiday season,” said Gregg Steinhafel, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Target Corporation.
Key Stats:
Last quarter’s profit decrease breaks a streak of four consecutive quarters of year-over-year profit increases. In the third quarter, net income rose 3.7% from the year earlier, while the figure increased 3.7% in the second quarter, 2.7% in the first quarter and 10.6% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year.
The company has now surpassed analyst estimates for four quarters in a row. It beat the mark by 8 cents in the third quarter, by 6 cents in the second quarter, and by 5 cents in the first quarter.
Looking Forward: The outlook for the company’s next-quarter performance is unfavorable. Estimates have gone down from an average 96 cents per share to 94 cents over the past seven days. Over the past sixty days, the average estimate for the fiscal year has reached $4.24 abs per share, a decline from $4.31.
(Company fundamentals provided by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)
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To contact the reporter on this story: Derek Hoffman at staff.writers@wallstcheatsheet.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Damien Hoffman at editors@wallstcheatsheet.com
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