Target (NYSE:TGT) reported second-quarter sales and profit growth that executives said reflected early traction from the retailer’s refreshed strategy, including merchandising changes, store investments, improved inventory availability and continued emphasis on value.
Net sales rose 5.3% year over year to $26.5 billion, while comparable sales increased 3.8%. Traffic increased 3.6%, with average ticket approximately flat. Store comparable sales rose 2.7%, and digital comparable sales grew 8.7%, led by growth of more than 25% in same-day delivery, Chief Financial Officer Jim Lee said.
Traffic Growth and Category Resets
Chief Executive Officer Michael Fiddelke said the retailer’s traffic growth was a particularly encouraging indicator, describing traffic as a key measure of sustainable long-term growth. He said guest response has supported the company’s confidence in investments intended to make Target a more frequent shopping destination for busy families.
During the quarter, Target completed what executives described as its largest volume of in-store transitions in more than a decade. The changes included a reset encompassing nearly half of the center-store grocery assortment, a reimagining of the Fun 101 space, and a replacement of nearly three-quarters of decorative accessories in home.
Chief Merchandising Officer Cara Sylvester said the company’s seven priority areas—beauty, health and wellness, food, baby and kids, women’s style, home, and culture-driven categories such as toys and entertainment—now represent about half of Target’s sales. Growth was disproportionately concentrated in areas where Target has made its largest changes, she said.
In food, Target changed the presentation of nearly half its center-store grocery assortment, added products and expanded space for categories including snacks, global foods and functional coffee. Post-transition snack sales are running more than 15% ahead of the prior year, according to Sylvester, with momentum in protein bars, meat sticks and better-for-you snacks.
The Fun 101 reset shifted space from legacy presentations in televisions and bikes toward wearable technology, Lego, trading cards and collectibles. Sales of Target’s $10 Heyday headphones were more than 35% above last year, while Lego sales increased more than 30% and plush sales rose more than 20%, Sylvester said.
Target said its Pokémon collaboration was among its largest fan-oriented events and introduced thousands of new guests to the retailer. Its LoveShackFancy back-to-school partnership became Target’s largest limited-time collaboration, according to the company, with most of the assortment priced below $25.
Home and Apparel Remain Works in Progress
While management cited broad-based gains, executives acknowledged that home and apparel performance remains below the company’s expectations. Fiddelke said growth in those high-margin categories was “flattish” and that Target is seeking more sustained growth over time.
Sylvester said those categories have longer lead times than areas such as food and beverage, meaning changes will take longer to flow through results. In apparel, Target is seeing encouraging results in specific areas where it has updated assortments, including kids basics, which are running at double-digit growth, and the tween Art Class brand, where sales are up 50%.
In home, the company recently reset 75% of decorative accessories and said the updated stores are outperforming. Further changes are planned in bedding, kids home and bath during the third quarter, followed by kitchen and dining updates in 2027.
“We have a lot more work to do,” Fiddelke said during the question-and-answer session, adding that Target expects its home transformation to be a multiyear effort.
Operations, Store Expansion and Digital Fulfillment
Chief Operating Officer Lisa Roath said Target improved availability on its most frequently purchased products and reached multiyear highs in overall inventory reliability metrics. The company has been investing in planning tools and closer coordination among merchandising, supply chain and store operations teams.
Target fulfilled nearly 30% more same-day and next-day units than a year earlier. Roath also highlighted Proxima, a digital twin of the company’s middle-mile inventory positioning system, which the retailer is using to test inventory flow plans before implementing them.
The company opened 17 new stores in the second quarter and 24 full-size stores through the first half. It also has more than 100 remodels underway and remains on track for about 130 remodels this year. Target stores fulfill more than 95% of sales, Roath said, making store investments relevant to in-store shopping as well as digital fulfillment.
Target plans to introduce Target Beauty Studio in more than 600 stores beginning next month. The new spaces will include dedicated beauty advisors and are intended to create a more elevated beauty experience.
Margins, Tariff Refunds and Capital Allocation
Second-quarter gross margin was 33.7%, up 4.7 percentage points from a year ago. The increase included 3.7 percentage points of benefit from refunds related to IEPA tariffs. Target recorded a $994 million pre-tax tariff-refund benefit as a reduction in cost of sales.
Excluding the tariff-refund impact, gross margin was about one percentage point above last year, helped by lower markdown and purchase-order cancellation costs compared with the prior-year period, growth in higher-margin revenue streams and merchandising performance. The company said those gains were partly offset by intentional value investments.
Operating margin was 9.6%, compared with 5.2% a year earlier. Excluding tariff refunds, the operating margin rate was approximately 70 basis points higher year over year. GAAP and adjusted EPS were both $4.11, up from $2.05 a year earlier; excluding tariff refunds, EPS was approximately 20% higher than last year.
Lee said Roundel gross billings increased nearly 20%, Target Plus marketplace gross merchandise value rose more than 40%, and Target Circle 360 membership revenue increased more than 40%.
- Target spent approximately $2.4 billion on capital expenditures through the first half, up nearly 30% year over year.
- The retailer maintained its expectation for about $5 billion in full-year capital expenditures.
- Second-quarter dividends totaled $518 million, bringing first-half dividends to just over $1 billion.
- Target expects to have capacity to resume share repurchases in the second half, subject to operating performance, cash generation, capital spending and credit-rating considerations.
Inventory was $13.2 billion at quarter-end, up about 3% from a year earlier. Target’s trailing 12-month after-tax return on invested capital was 15.4%, compared with 14.3% a year ago.
Management said it plans to continue price reductions after lowering prices on more than 10,000 items over the past 12 months. Target said 95% of its back-to-school supplies assortment was priced at or below last year’s levels, while back-to-school wish-list creation increased more than 50%, items added to lists more than doubled, and conversion on key back-to-school pages rose nearly 20%.
About Target (NYSE:TGT)
Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) is a U.S.-based general merchandise retailer headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company operates a network of full-line and small-format stores across the United States alongside a national e-commerce platform and mobile app. Target’s retail assortment spans apparel, home goods, electronics, groceries and household essentials, plus beauty, baby and pet categories. The firm complements national brands with a portfolio of owned and exclusive labels and partnerships that help differentiate its merchandise assortment.
Target traces its roots to the Dayton Company, founded by George Dayton in 1902; the Target discount chain was launched in 1962 and the parent company later adopted the Target Corporation name.
