Target Goes Big With $1.5 Billion Profit in Q4
Target Corp. continued to charge ahead in the fourth quarter — and is looking to keep much of its momentum as the consumer response to COVID-19 evolves.
The retailer’s net profits increased 11.9 percent to $1.5 billion, or $3.21 a diluted share, from $1.4 billion, or $2.73, in 2020. Sales for the three months ended Jan. 29 rose 9.4 percent to $30.6 billion from $28 billion a year earlier. Adjusted earnings per share tallied $3.19, easily beating the $2.86 analysts projected.
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Investors responded immediately and drove shares of the company up 13.3 percent to $226.42 in premarket trading on Wall Street.
That was a strong finish for what has been a remarkable run for Target, which picked up share as an “essential retailer” early in the pandemic and then solidified those gains as shoppers returned to stores.
For the full year, the mass merchant’s net earnings rose 59 percent to $6.9 billion, or $14.10 a diluted share, as sales advanced 13.2 percent to $104.6 billion.
Brian Cornell, chairman and chief executive officer of Target, said the quarter and the year reinforced “the durability of our business model and our confidence in long-term profitable growth.”
“As we look ahead, we’ll keep investing and delivering on all that has earned the loyalty and trust of our guests. That starts with our outstanding team and includes continued differentiation through affordability, assortment, ease and convenience,” Cornell said.
The company will be laying out more of its game plan for the future at an analyst meeting in New York Tuesday morning, but did give a sense of where it’s headed, laying out its “long-term financial algorithm.”
Annually, Target is looking for:
? mid-single-digit revenue growth;
? mid-single-digit growth in operating income;
? high-single-digit expansion in adjusted earnings per share;
? annual capital expenditures of $4 billion to $5 billion,
? and an after-tax return on invested capital in a percentage ranging from the high 20s to 30.
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