Target Corporation reported its financial results for the second quarter of 2024, showing robust profit performance and a return to topline growth.
In the second quarter, comparable sales grew by 2.0 per cent, which was driven by increases in comparable internet sales of 8.7 per cent and comparable retail sales of 0.7 per cent. With US $ 25.5 billion in total revenue in the second quarter, the company’s revenue for the year increased by 2.7 per cent over the previous year due to a 2.6 per cent increase in overall sales and a 10.8 per cent increase in other revenue. Due to increased sales and a higher gross margin rate, the second quarter’s operating income of US $ 1.6 billion was 36.6 per cent greater than the same period the previous year.
Comparable digital sales increased by 8.7 per cent. Double-digit growth was observed in same-day services, with low teens seeing the most growth in Drive Up and Target Circle 360TM same-day delivery.
Apparel comparative sales increased by more than 3 per cent during the quarter, indicating that discretionary sales trends remained significantly improving. Due to a higher gross margin rate, the operating income margin rate for the second quarter of 6.4 per cent increased 160 basis points from the previous year.
“We made a commitment to get back to growth in the second quarter, and the team delivered, all while expanding operating margins and growing EPS by more than 40 per cent compared to last year. Importantly, our growth was driven entirely by traffic in stores and our digital channels, with double-digit growth in our same-day delivery services,” said Brian Cornell, chair and chief executive officer of Target Corporation.
