Target (TGT) CEO Brian Cornell is bullish on the consumer ahead of the holiday season.
Cornell said Target's sales momentum has continued into the third quarter. The comments were made to reporters Wednesday afternoon at a holiday season media event.
"I see a very healthy U.S. consumer," Cornell told Yahoo Finance at the event, adding that low unemployment and low gas prices should be tailwinds to Target's business this holiday season.
His upbeat outlook echoes comments made by Procter & Gamble CFO Jon Moeller after the consumers goods giant reported strong quarterly results Tuesday morning.
But consumer spending and confidence have weakened since the summer amid worries about the U.S. trade war with China. And this year the holiday shopping is shorter than usual. There are only 26 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year.
Target's guidance was at the bottom range of its previous earnings release. For both the third quarter and second half of 2019, Target expects comparable sales growth in line with the 3.4% comparable sales growth the company delivered in the second quarter of 2019. For the third quarter, the company expects both GAAP EPS from continuing operations and Adjusted EPS of $1.04 to $1.24.
Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and co-anchor of The First Trade at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @BrianSozzi
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