Today, retail giant Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) reported its third-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings. Unfortunately, for the company and its investors, the results were a continuation of what Target has been seeing for years now: declining sales.
Here’s what you need to know about Target’s Q3 and the impact the earnings are having on the company’s stock price today.
Target’s Q3 2025 at a glance
Here’s what the big box retailer reported for its Q3 2025:
- Net sales: $25.3 billion (down 1.4% from the same period in 2024)
- Adjusted earnings per share (EPS): $1.78 (down from $1.85 in the same period in 2024)
- Operating income: $948 million (down 18.9%)
- Net earnings: $689 million (down 19.3%)
To put those first two all-important metrics into perspective, net sales came in below what analysts were expecting, but the company’s adjusted earnings per share came in slightly above.
As CNBC notes, LSEG analysts expected Target to post revenue of $25.32 billion and an adjusted EPS of $1.72.
One bright spot in Target’s Q3 results was digital comparable sales, which increased 2.4%.
Announcing the company’s Q3 2025 earnings, Target’s incoming CEO, Michael Fiddelke, who takes the helm in February, said, “Thanks to the incredible work and dedication of the Target team, our third quarter performance was in line with our expectations, despite multiple challenges continuing to face our business.”
Target’s sales woes continue
What are those “multiple challenges”?
Most broadly, Target has seen stagnant or declining quarterly sales for years now. Some of those sales woes are driven by factors not unique to Target.
For several years now, retailers of all stripes have been seeing customers who are more cautious about how and where they spend their discretionary dollars. This caution has largely been spurred by inflationary pressures leading to rising cost-of-living expenses.
The company, like most retailers, is also facing significant competition from other big-box giants, including Walmart, as well as from online retailers like Amazon and, in more recent years, Temu and Shein.
However, several factors unique to Target that have also impacted its sales for quite some time.
As Fast Company reported in May, customers had been complaining about messier layouts, long lines, and understaffed stores. This had led to a notable decline in customer service in many customers’ eyes.
Finally, earlier this year, Target rolled back some of its DEI initiatives after Trump came to power. This prompted backlash and a boycott from many Target customers. Target has previously said this backlash impacted sales.
All eyes on the holiday quarter—and TGT stock
Despite the sales decline in Q3, Target maintained its outlook for its current Q4, which includes the all-important holiday period.
Yet that’s not exactly a good thing. Target had previously forecast that it expects its Q4 to see a low single-digit sales decline, and now it has confirmed that it still expects that decline (but at least, the company might argue, the decline isn’t forecast to be any worse).
What Target did adjust was its full fiscal 2025 forecast. Target had previously said it had expected adjusted earnings per share for the year to come in at between $7 to $9. But now the company says it expects adjusted EPS for fiscal 2025 to be between $7 and $8.
Target’s stock reacted about as well as you would expect. As of this writing, TGT shares are currently trading down about 2.97% to $85.90 per share in premarket.
The company’s stock price has had a rough 2025.
Since the year began, TGT shares have declined more than 34% as of yesterday’s closing price of $88.53. Looking back over the past 12 months, things are even worse. During that time, TGT shares have declined more than 43% as of yesterday’s close.
