Upcoming AWS Coverage on Wal-Mart Stores

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2017 / Active Wall St. blog coverage looks at the headline from Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) as the Company announced on January 18, 2017, their holiday season sales figures, which included sales during the months of November and December 2016. The comparable sales during these months showed a decrease of 1.3% when compared to the same period in 2015. The overall sales also decreased by 4.9%. Based on these figures, the Company has revised its Q4 and the full year guidance for 2016. Register with us now for your free membership and blog access at:

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One of Target's competitors within the Discount, Variety Stores space, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT), is expected to report its fiscal Quarter ending January 2017 earnings results on February 21, 2017 before market open. AWS will be initiating a research report on Wal-Mart following the release of its next earnings results.

Today, AWS is promoting its blog coverage on TGT; touching on stocks like WMT. Get all of our free blog coverage and more by clicking on the links below:

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Commenting on the Company's holiday sales, Brian Cornell, Chairman and CEO of Target said:

"While we significantly outpaced the industry's digital performance, the costs associated with the accelerated mix shift between our stores and digital channels and a highly promotional competitive environment had a negative impact on our fourth quarter margins and earnings per share."

Holiday Season (November ? December 2016) Sales Performance

Target's comparable sales at its stores had declined by more than 3% in the November-December 2016 period. This decline was offset by Target's sales from digital platform which showed a growth of more than 30%.

When compared to transaction of 2015 during the same period, the comparable stores sales declined by 1.7% whereas the digital sales showed a growth of over 30%. The Company feels that the overall sales impacted mainly due to the loss of Target's pharmacy and clinic business. Target had sold off is pharmacy and clinic business to CVS Health Corp (CVS) in 2015.

The Company's Signature Categories, which includes toys, showed a growth of over 3% when compared to the Company's sales growth. Categories like Electronics and Entertainment as well as Food and Essentials recorded a decline in sales which were limited to single digit ranges.

Q4 and Full Year Performance Guidance for 2016

Comparable sales for Q4 are expected to be in the range of 1%-1.5% compared to previous guidance of 1%. Q4 GAAP EPS from continuing operations and adjusted EPS is forecasted to be in the range of $1.45- $1.55 compared to previous guidance of $1.55- $1.75.

The full year 2016 GAAP EPS from continuing operations is expected to be in the range of $4.57-$4.67 compared to the previous range of $4.67-$4.87. The full year 2016 adjusted EPS is anticipated to be in the range of $5.00-$5.10 compared to the previous range of $5.10-$5.30.

Target acknowledges that the spending on the aggressive marketing and merchandising efforts in a highly competitive environment have impacted its Q4 margins and earnings per share. Promotional events like the Black Friday sales were a hit amongst consumers, but lost momentum during the holiday season.

Target had declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share payable on March 10, 2017. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%.

Comparable performance by other retailers

Target is not the only retailer to have weak sales during the holiday season. Other retailers like Kohl's and Macy's also reported a slow holiday season sales and have revised their Q4 and year end outlooks. Retailers like J.C. Penney and Nordstrom have reported sluggish sales during the holiday season.

Changing consumer preferences and buying habits who are more inclined towards mobile/ online shopping have affected sales of many retailers. Online players like Amazon are changing the rules of the game, forcing retailers to work harder to gain customer's attention. The same is reflected in the data shared by The National Retail Federation (NRF) recently. The NRF, the nation's largest retail trade group, reported that holiday sales for the November and December 2016 period rose 4% to about $658.3 billion. This was slightly higher than the forecast of 3.6 %. Online sales rose 12.6% to $122.9 billion which was higher than the forecast of 10%.

Stock Performance

At the closing bell, on Wednesday, January 18, 2017, Target's share price finished yesterday's trading session at $66.85, dropping 5.77%. A total volume of 19.05 million shares exchanged hands, which was higher than the 3 months' average volume of 5.17 million shares. The stock has advanced 0.26% in the last three months. The stock is trading at a PE ratio of 12.27 and has a dividend yield of 3.59%. The stock's market capitalization is $38.12 billion considering yesterday's closing price.

Earnings Alert:Target plans to share the detailed Q42016 earnings results on February 28, 2017.

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SOURCE: Active Wall Street