Target (TGT) Q1 2026 earnings

Target on Wednesday posted earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street expectations, and reported that net sales grew more than 6% year over year as the retailer tries to win back customers amid slumping sales. 

Target’s same-store sales jumped 5.6%, its first positive same-store sales number in five quarters.

Even so, Target shares fell nearly 4% on Wednesday as investors digested the retailer’s progress in its turnaround and concerns that the rest of the year may not prove as strong as the first quarter.

The retailer said it saw broad-based strength across its categories, with traffic across stores and digital platforms growing 4.4% compared with the fiscal first quarter last year. Digital comparable sales increased 8.9%, growth the company attributed to same-day delivery through its membership, Target Circle 360.

“Even with this early progress, we know our work is just beginning, and we have confidence we’re on the right path because guests are responding in areas where we are leaning in and driving change,” CEO Michael Fiddelke said on a call with reporters. “These are areas where we bring style, design, and value to not only the products we sell, but how we sell them, creating a distinctly Target experience.”

Notably, nonmerchandise sales spiked nearly 25%, including from what the company identified as strong growth in its membership revenue and the Target+ marketplace. Target, like Walmart and Amazon, has tried to grow those business units both to offer more convenience to customers and boost its profits.

The company said it saw sales increase across all six of its core merchandising categories, with particularly strong responses from consumers in its health and wellness, toys, and baby segments. It opened seven new stores in the fiscal first quarter, with more than 100 remodel projects in progress.

Here’s what the retailer reported for its fiscal first quarter compared with what Wall Street expected, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

• Earnings per share: $1.71 vs. $1.46 expected
• Revenue: $25.44 billion vs. $24.64 billion expected

As it reported the first-quarter beats, Target also hiked its full-year revenue outlook. The retailer said it expects net sales growth of 4% compared with 2025, an increase of 2 percentage points from its prior outlook. It also expects its earnings per share to come in near the high end of its previously provided guidance range of $7.50 to $8.50. Analysts were expecting earnings of $8.14 per share. 

“Despite our updated guidance, we’re maintaining a cautious outlook given the work we know we have in front of us and ongoing uncertainty in the macroeconomic environment,” Fiddelke told reporters.

For the three-month period that ended May 2, Target reported net income of $781 million, or $1.71 per share, down from $1.04 billion, or $2.27 per share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings per share were $1.30 in the year-ago period. 

It reported merchandise revenue of $24.89 billion, beating estimates of $24.18 billion….