Target Shares Took A Horrible Beating After This

Is Tar-Jay losing its luster? The stock is down 20% this year already and it’s not even March yet.

Target reported its Q4 earnings on Tuesday and they were a lot worse than expected. The retail chain even said they expect sales to continue to fall this fiscal year.

In pre-market trading, shares of Target were already down 12% before the open.

Net income for the fourth quarter ended Jan. 28, fell to $817 million, or $1.45 per share, from $1.43 billion, or $2.32 per share, a year earlier.

Analysts had been expecting $1.51 per share according to Thomson Reuters.

Sales at stores open for at least a year fell 1.5 percent, while the average analyst estimate called for only a decline of 1.3 percent according to Consensus Metrix.

If this wasn’t bad enough, net sales also fell 4.3 percent to $20.69 billion, making it the sixth quarter in a row for a decline.

“Our fourth quarter results reflect the impact of rapidly changing consumer behavior, which drove very strong digital growth but unexpected softness in our stores,” said Brian Cornell, chairman and CEO of Target.

More and more consumers are spending their money online. At least Target’s digital sales were up 34% from a year ago.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) and have not been compensated for this article.