Target has blowout quarter with US$1.6b profit

Target reported recorded-setting sales growth online and at established stores over the past three months, more evidence that big box retailers have become essential points of supply during the pandemic.

Online sales surged by 195 percent and same-store sales grew by 10.9 percent, second-quarter growth that is unprecedented in the company’s 58-year history.

Walmart, Home Depot and now Target have reported eye-popping sales over the past three months as Americans limit their supply runs to fewer stores and do more cooking and do-it-yourself projects at home.

Target said that it added 10 million new online customers during the first half of the year and gained US$5 billion in market share. Clothing sales, which tumbled by 20 percent in the first three months of the year as people focused on necessities, saw double-digit growth in the second quarter.

Drive-up services increased more than seven-fold. And sales related to in-store pick up increased more than 60 percent during the quarter.

Target earned US$1.69 billion, or US$3.35 per share. That compares with US$938 million, or US$1.83 per share for the year-ago period.

Removing one-time costs and benefits, Target earned US$3.38 a share, blowing past the US$1.63 projected by Wall Street, according to a survey by FactSet.

Revenue grew by 25 percent to US$22.7 billion, also exceeding expectations.-AP