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Target nabs Q2 beat, but stock sinks as management continues to warn of slumping sales

Target shares sank 10% in premarket trading after the retailer posted a Q2 earnings beat but reiterated expectations for a sales drop this year.

The company also announced that longtime CEO Brian Cornell would step down.

Adjusted earnings per share came in at $2.05, versus Wall Street’s estimate of $2.04. Revenue landed at $25.2 billion, compared with forecasts of $24.9 billion. Meanwhile, same-store sales fell 1.9%, better than the projected 2.9% decline, per FactSet.

Looking ahead, Target affirmed its full-year guidance. For fiscal 2025, it expects a low single-digit sales decline and adjusted EPS ranging between $7.00 and $9.00, the midpoint of which is well above the $7.30 from analysts polled by Bloomberg.

Target has been fighting through a sales slump and lowering prices to win shoppers back. But it hasn’t been enough to stop the bleed: last week, Bank of America analysts downgraded their rating for the stock to underperform, warning that the retailer was already lagging peers and would need to raise prices by roughly 8% on average to fully offset tariffs expected in fiscal 2027.

And now, the retailer’s leadership is set to change. Longtime CEO Brian Cornell will step down in February after more than a decade at the helm. He’ll be succeeded by current Chief Operating Officer Michael Fiddelke, who has been with the company for nearly 20 years.

Target shares were down 23% year to date prior to earnings.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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