Off-target
Target’s sales last quarter slumped for the first time since 2017, as the retailer is still struggling to get cash-conscious consumers to spend on non-essential items, as well as battling backlash over the Pride month merchandise that the retailer offered in May.
CEO Brian Cornell admitted on the earnings call that the “negative reaction” had impacted the company’s Q2 revenue — which sat at $24.8 billion, down from $26 billion for the same quarter in 2022 — but added that the retailer would “continue to celebrate Pride and other heritage moments”, while “applying what [they] learned” from the 2023 fallout.
Retailing off
Target’s sales have been slowing for some time, though analysts and execs have been quick to point out that, since the retailer’s sales figures rocketed during the pandemic, this latest slowdown may simply be more of a reset than a reason for Target to panic. However, compared to its big-box behemoth competitor Walmart, which yesterday posted impressive earnings that saw revenues rise 5.7%, Target is falling even further behind.
Before sales slumped 5% in Q2, Target had been enjoying a 26-quarter streak reaching back to 2016, in which sales had either improved or stayed the same, as its efforts to cement itself as one of America’s biggest retailers expanded. As might be expected, the peak of that growth came during the pandemic, when revenues increased as much as 25% year-over-year — though, in recent quarters, even single-digit growth has been seen as good for America’s 6th-largest retailer.
