Target Corporation (TGT)

Target's newest filed quarter, the three months to 1 August 2026, brought net sales of $26.5 billion, up 5.3 percent, and net earnings of $1.88 billion against $935 million a year earlier 1. Much of the jump came from $994 million of refunds of tariffs the Supreme Court found unauthorized in February, which added $752 million to net earnings 12.

The business also grew without the refunds: comparable sales, from stores open over a year and from digital orders, rose 3.8 percent on 3.6 percent more customer transactions 1. Michael Fiddelke, chief executive since 1 February, pointed to price cuts on more than 10,000 frequently bought items over the past year 16. On those results Target raised its guidance for 2026 to net sales growth of around 5 percent 1.

The open question is how much of the gain lasts 2. The quarterly report says Target is still pursuing refund claims it has not booked, while new tariffs now apply to most major trading partners 2. A national teachers' union also called in August for a back-to-school boycott over the company's response to immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities, MPR News reported 24.

Target entered the pandemic as a chain that kept its stores at the center of its plan, and the stores carried it through 12. Total revenue rose from $78.1 billion in fiscal 2019 to $93.6 billion in fiscal 2020, the year to 30 January 2021 12. Comparable digital sales grew 145 percent, and most orders were packed in stores for Order Pickup, Drive Up and delivery through Shipt, its delivery subsidiary 12.

Fiscal 2021 was the top of that run: total revenue reached $106.0 billion, comparable sales rose 12.7 percent and operating income climbed to $8.9 billion 13. Target opened Ulta Beauty at Target, a beauty shop inside its stores, in about 100 locations that year 13. It also sold Dermstore, an online beauty seller, for $356 million 14.

Fiscal 2022 turned the gains around 14. Shoppers moved their spending from clothing, home goods and electronics to food and essentials, leaving Target with too much of the wrong stock 14. Clearing it with markdowns and cancelled orders cut the gross margin, sales minus the cost of goods, to 23.6 percent from 28.3 percent, and operating income fell 57.0 percent to $3.8 billion 14.

Fiscal 2023, a 53-week year, saw sales fall 1.7 percent to $105.8 billion as comparable sales dropped 3.7 percent 15. Target told analysts that summer that a backlash over its Pride Month merchandise hurt sales, without saying by how much, NPR reported 17. The gross margin recovered to 26.5 percent on lower freight costs and fewer markdowns 15.

Fiscal 2024 was flat: net sales of $106.6 billion were 0.8 percent lower, because the year had one week fewer 16. That year Target folded its store card into a rebuilt Target Circle loyalty program and added Target Circle 360, a paid membership for same-day delivery 16.

Fiscal 2025, the year to 31 January 2026, was harder, with cautious shoppers and tariffs that changed again and again 3. Net sales fell 1.7 percent to $104.8 billion, and comparable sales dropped 2.6 percent on 2.2 percent fewer transactions 3. The annual report says that ending some diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives drew adverse reactions and consumer boycotts organized throughout 2025 3.

Target answered with a cost program that cut headquarters jobs, at a cost of $250 million in fiscal 2025 3. Its earnings that year included $593 million of gains from settling lawsuits it had brought over card fees 3. In August 2025 the board named chief operating officer Michael Fiddelke to succeed Brian Cornell as chief executive, and Cornell stayed on as executive chair 6.

The turn showed quickly under Fiddelke: net sales rose 6.7 percent in the first quarter of 2026, and all six core merchandise categories sold more than a year before 5.

The stores and the six categories

Target runs discount stores and a website that sell general merchandise and groceries, and it reports a single business segment 3. It had 2,019 stores on 1 August 2026, up from 1,995 at the start of the fiscal year 1. Stores fulfilled 97.6 percent of merchandise sales in the second quarter, counting online orders picked up or delivered from a store 1.

Food and beverage is the largest of the six merchandise categories, at $24.1 billion of fiscal 2025's $102.7 billion of merchandise sales 3. Household essentials brought $18.0 billion, hardlines such as toys, electronics and sporting goods $15.8 billion, apparel $15.7 billion, home $15.6 billion and beauty $13.2 billion 3.

In the second quarter every category grew, unevenly 1. Hardlines, renamed "Fun 101" in a multi-year makeover, rose 10.6 percent (computed), and food and beauty each rose 7.2 percent (computed) 13. Apparel and home were almost flat, at $4.09 billion and $3.67 billion 1.

Owned brands

About thirty percent of merchandise sales come from brands Target owns or sells exclusively, such as Good & Gather food, Cat & Jack children's clothing, Threshold home goods and up & up essentials 3. In fiscal 2024, 11 of its owned brands each sold more than $1 billion 16. It also runs shops for Apple, Levi's and others, and Starbucks and Target Optical counters 3.

Target Circle and Circle 360

Target Circle is the free loyalty program; the Target Circle Card takes 5 percent off nearly all purchases; and Circle 360 is a paid membership with unlimited same-day delivery on orders over $35 3. NBC News Select listed Circle 360 at $99 a year or $10.99 a month, and $49 a year for cardholders 26. It compared that with $139 for Amazon Prime and $98 for Walmart Plus 26.

Digital orders and AI shopping

Digital orders were 19.6 percent of merchandise sales in the second quarter, and digital comparable sales grew 8.7 percent, led by more than 25 percent growth in same-day delivery 1. Target says it is the first mass retailer selling inside Google's Gemini and Search, Microsoft Copilot and OpenAI's ChatGPT 25. It says traffic reaching it from AI tools rose 2,000 percent in the first quarter 25.

Roundel, Target Plus and card income

Roundel, Target's advertising arm, sells ads to brands on Target's apps, site and partner platforms, and its revenue rose to $915 million in fiscal 2025 from $649 million 3. Target also earns a share of the profit on its credit cards, which TD Bank Group funds and owns, $522 million that year 3. Sales beyond merchandise grew 20.1 percent in the second quarter 1.

Target Plus is its online marketplace, where outside sellers list goods and Target earns a commission 3. Membership fees from Circle 360 and from Shipt, its delivery service, are booked in the same other revenue line 3.

Target Beauty Studio

The shop-in-shop deal with Ulta Beauty ended in August 2026, by mutual agreement announced a year earlier 20. In its place Target opened Target Beauty Studio on 10 September in more than 600 stores, with more than 1,600 products from 90 brands, FOX reported 18.

Glossy reported that the studio drew many brands to Target for the first time, some to any store at all 19. "We're not just putting products on shelves; it's a completely new environment," Eliran Luzone, founder of Remilia Hair, told the outlet 19.

Rivals

The annual report names department stores, off-price chains, wholesale clubs, drug stores, supermarkets and online marketplaces as competitors 3. The largest, Walmart, reported $187.9 billion of revenue in its quarter to 31 July 2026 and 2.6 percent comparable growth at Walmart U.S. 27. Target's peer group also lists Amazon, Costco and Dollar General 3.

Stores, supply chain and sourcing

Of the 1,995 stores at the fiscal year's end, Target owned 1,546, leased 288 and owned the building on leased land at 161 3. It ran 70 supply chain facilities with 72.9 million square feet 3. About half of what it sells is made abroad, China most of all, and it buys through sourcing offices in 13 countries 3.

The people

Fiddelke, 49, joined Target in 2004 and was finance chief and then chief operating officer before taking over 6. Within days he named Cara Sylvester chief merchandising officer and Lisa Roath chief operating officer 7. Jim Lee, from PepsiCo, is finance chief, and Mark Weinstein, Hilton's former marketing chief, joined in 2026 to run marketing, loyalty, Roundel and Target Plus 322.

Target employed about 415,000 people at the end of fiscal 2025, most of them hourly workers in stores and warehouses paid a starting wage of $15 to $24 an hour 3. Shareholders elected twelve directors in June, and former 7-Eleven chief Joe DePinto joined the board on 1 August 2026 810.

Current problems

Shareholders have sued Target and its directors in two class actions claiming it misled them about the risks of its diversity programs and its 2023 Pride collection 3. The cases were moved to federal court in Minnesota, and Target says it intends to defend them vigorously 3.

Tariffs remain the larger cost question, since new ones replaced those the court struck down 2. The teachers' boycott, backed by the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, followed protests at Target stores during the federal surge in Minnesota, MPR News reported 24. A Target spokesperson said in February that the company has no cooperation agreements with immigration authorities, MPR added 24.

The umbrella, in words

Target Corporation, a Minnesota company since 1902, lists three significant subsidiaries in its newest annual report: Target Brands, Inc., Target Enterprise, Inc. and Target General Merchandise, Inc. 311. Target Brands, Inc. is the applicant on a published patent application for a store assistant built on generative AI 28. Shipt, its delivery business, is a subsidiary too 3.

Its main tie-ups are agreements, not stakes: CVS runs pharmacies and clinics in its stores under a perpetual operating agreement, and TD Bank Group funds its credit cards 3. In August 2026 it agreed a $4.0 billion five-year credit line with Bank of America and other lenders, running to 14 August 2031 9.

Target has one class of common stock and no preferred shares outstanding 1. Vanguard Capital Management reported 7.51 percent of the common stock as of 31 March 2026, and FMR 5.4 percent as of 30 June, both as passive holders 2930. In June a proposal for an independent board chair won 38.1 percent of the votes and failed 8.

In August Target guided to 2026 net sales growth of around 5 percent and an operating margin of around 6 percent, including about 90 basis points from the refunds 1. It expects earnings per share of $9.90 to $10.90, including about $1.65 from the refunds, and the range leaves out any refunds still to come 1.

Without the refunds, the company expects its operating margin to be around 50 basis points higher than last year's adjusted 4.6 percent 1. Adjusted means before items Target treats as one-time, such as legal settlement gains 4.

In May the company said it still expects net sales to grow in every quarter of 2026, after first guiding to growth of around 2 percent for the year in March 54. It has raised that range twice since 51.

The annual report says Target expects to spend about $5 billion on capital projects in 2026, mostly store remodels, new stores, supply chain and technology 3. It expects to open about 30 new stores during the year 3. Spending in the second quarter was $1.4 billion, up 27 percent, driven mainly by remodels and new stores 1.

Target bought back no stock in the second quarter and had about $8.3 billion left under the buyback program its board approved in August 2021 1. It paid $518 million of dividends in the quarter, after raising the dividend per share 1.8 percent 1.

The strategy Fiddelke set out has four priorities: lead with merchandising, elevate the shopping experience, speed up technology, and strengthen the team and communities 310. In late September Target said it would lower prices on nearly 2,000 home, clothing and accessory items before the holidays, Cox Media Group reported, citing Reuters 23.

The quarterly report says the company keeps pursuing more refund claims but cannot estimate what they will bring 2. Mark Weinstein's remit covers the Circle loyalty program, Roundel and Target Plus, so the next moves there rest with him 22. The securities class actions remain open in federal court in Minnesota 3.

Past

Target Corporation's revenue grew from $70 billion in fiscal 2017 to $105 billion in fiscal 2026, up 4.5% a year, rising in 6 of 9 years with the deepest fall of 4% from fiscal 2023 to fiscal 2026. Net income was positive in 6 of 6 of those years. Dividends declared per share rose from $2.46 in fiscal 2017 to $4.54 in fiscal 2025. Over the 3 fiscal years to 2026-01-31, the diluted share count shrank about 0.7% a year. 12

Target Corporation's filings since 2017 show no warning events: no bankruptcy or receivership notice, no debt default notice, no exchange listing notice, no restatement warning, no auditor change, no material cyber incident and no late-report notice. Surviving crises ranks at the 65th percentile among 10 sector filers. 1

Present

For the fiscal year ended 2026-01-31, Target Corporation reported revenue of $105 billion and a profit of $3.7 billion. Return on equity was about 23 cents of profit for every dollar of shareholders' money, and gross profitability was about 49 cents per dollar of everything the company owns. Leverage was about 73 cents per dollar of assets, and the share count shrank 1.3% over the year. Revenue of $105 billion ranks in the top 28% by size in its industry family; a net margin of 3.5% ranks in the bottom 45%; revenue growth of -1.3% a year over the last 3 filed years ranks in the bottom 5%. 31

No one files under a chief executive's title; the 24 officers and directors filing in the last fifteen months have been on the record a median of 5.4 years, ranking in the bottom 39%; 12 officer or director changes were reported on Form 8-K since 2023-10-21, against the 24 people in charge now, ranking in the bottom 28%. Officers and directors filed 9 sales and 0 purchases of their own stock on the open market in the year to 2026-10-02. 1

Future

A quarterly report (Form 10-Q) for the quarter ending 2026-11-30 is due by 2027-01-09 under the SEC's rules. An annual report (Form 10-K) for the fiscal year ending 2027-02-01 is due by 2027-04-02 under the SEC's rules. 4

Revenue grew -1.3% a year over the last three filed years against 4.5% over all 10, slowing and ranking in the bottom 5% of its family; the newest year grew -1.7%, ranking in the bottom 5%; capital spending grew -12.3% a year, ranking in the bottom 6%. Cash of $5.5 billion against debt of $14 billion leaves -15% of its assets as net cash, ranking in the bottom 5% of its family; cash from operations less capital spending is 2.7% of revenue, ranking in the bottom 35%; a gross margin of 27.9% ranks in the bottom 45%. 1

How the company operates

Target Corporation is a retail business. Where the revenue comes from, fiscal 2026, is: Food and Beverage 23%, Household Essentials 17%, Hardlines 15%, Apparel and Accessories 15%, Home Furnishings and Decor 15%, Beauty 13%, Advertising Revenue 1%, Other Other Revenue 1%. Target Corporation reported 10 product lines in fiscal 2026: Food and Beverage at $24 billion (23%), Household Essentials at $18 billion (17%), Hardlines at $16 billion (15%), and 7 more; 5 of 10 grew against the year before. 31

New moves

On 2026-08-14, a Form 8-K was filed reporting a major agreement signed, a major agreement ended, and new debt or an obligation taken on. On 2026-09-28, the desk noted that the White House's terms of reference for U. S. and China '30-for-30' tariff lists were valued on 2024 trade, with duties on more than nine in ten covered products said by China's commerce ministry to fall to most-favored-nation levels; Target Corporation is adjacent to the event. 45