Via Wall Street Journal:
Slower digital sales growth at Target Corp. weighed on the retailer’s first-quarter results, the latest sign that retailers’ ability to grab online shoppers is increasingly determining their fortunes.
Chief Executive Brian Cornell cited “an increasingly volatile consumer environment” and said Target’s view of second-quarter results “has been tempered by the recent slowdown in consumer trends.”
Shares of the company tumbled 7.3% to $68.24 in premarket trading.
Target warned that it would post adjusted earnings for the second quarter far below Wall Street’s expectations, on comparable-store sales that will be flat to down 2%. A decline in same-store sales would be the first for Target in nearly two years.
Despite weakness in the first half of the year, Target said it still sees its full-year earnings forecast as “achievable.”