This post was originally published on this site
Target Corp. reported first-quarter adjusted earnings that reached an all-time high, blowing past Street estimates on both profit and sales.
Target’s
TGT,
net income totaled $2.097 billion, or $4.17 per share, up from $284.0 million, or 56 cents per share, last year. Adjusted EPS of $3.69 was 525% higher than last year, reaching an all-time high.
Sales totaled $23.88 billion, up from $19.37 billion last year.
The FactSet consensus was for EPS of $2.21 and sales of $21.75 billion.
See: Walmart takes the unusual step of raising its outlook in first-quarter earnings report
Comparable-store sales grew 22.9% with stores up 18% and digital comparable sales up 50%.
The FactSet consensus was for comparable sales growth of 11.9%.
Same-day services including Order Pickup were up 90% year-over-year, with stores fulfilling more than 95% of first-quarter sales. During a call with the media, Chief Executive Brian Cornell once again emphasized the financial benefit of using the company’s network of stores for fulfillment purposes.
“Our stores were the star of the show,” he said on the call.
Owned brands, private labels created by and found exclusively at Target, also hit a record 36% sales growth in the first quarter. Among Target’s owned brands are kids brand Cat & Jack, women’s apparel and accessories label A New Day, and home brand Opalhouse.
Target has 10 billion-dollar owned brands.
The Mother’s Day holiday was among the strongest in years for the retailer, and company execs are optimistic about the continued strength of sales heading into Memorial Day and other summer holidays and events.
“Consumer confidence is on the rise,” Cornell told the media.
Apparel sales were up in the low 60% range during the quarter, the home category was up in the mid 30% range, beauty was up in the high teens, and food and beverage was up in the low-to-mid single digits.
Target announced this week that it would no longer require fully vaccinated workers or guests to wear a face covering, except where local ordinances require it. However, Cornell said the retailer will continue to encourage social distancing and keep other COVID-era measures in place.
Target is guiding for second-quarter comparable sales growth in the mid-to-high single digits, and single-digit comparable sales growth in the last two quarters of the year.
The FactSet consensus is for a Q2 comparable sales decline of 5.4%, and declines of 4.3% and 3.9% for the final two quarters of the year, respectively.
And: Target to spend $4 billion annually over the next several years to build on ‘record breaking’ 2020
Target stock has gained nearly 17% for the year to date while the benchmark S&P 500 index
SPX,
is up 9.9% for the period.
