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Readers Miss Target on Target: Poll
By Jeanine Poggi
TheStreet.com Staff Reporter
11/09/09 08:31 AM EST

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Target's (TGT:NYSE) same-store sales results were expected to augur a strong holiday season, according to TheStreet.com's readers. But when all of last month's receipts were tallied, those results -- and our users -- proved to be decidedly off target.

About 47.8% of voters in the past week's weekly retail poll chose Target as the company whose results would have the most upside, but the retailer actually saw its monthly comparable sales slip by 0.1%, lower than the flat expectation from Wall Street.

The company revealed that while shoppers picked up lower-priced goods like food and beauty products, it's still seeing weakness with big-ticket items like electronics and sporting goods.

Earlier today, Target announced it is following rival Wal-Mart Stores' (WMT:NYSE) lead and further reducing prices on toys. It is also slashing prices on DVDs and books.

Nonetheless, shares of the company ended the week up 2.6% to $49.70.

More users got it right with TJX (TJX:NYSE) , with 24.7% picking the off-pricer as a company that would see strength in October. TJX posted a 10% surge in same-store sales.

TJX said sales at its T.J. Maxx and Marshalls stores rose a combined 12%, driven by strong customer traffic, which bodes well for the holiday season.

As a result, TJX said it now expects third-quarter earnings to meet or slightly exceed its forecast of 77 cents to 79 cents a share.

Macy's (M:NYSE) even proved to be a better pick than Target, as Macy's saw same-store sales inch down by just 0.8%, the second month the department store posted sales improvement.

As a result, J.P. Morgan upgraded Macy's to overweight from neutral, citing strength from the national roll-out of the My Macy's localization initiative.

Just 14.8% of TheStreet users, though, had thought Macy's results would be impressive.

The Gap (GPS:NYSE) was one of the biggest surprises of the month, with sales growing 4%, easily topping the consensus of a 1.6% increase.

By division, sales at its namesake store tanked 6%, jumped 5% at Banana Republic and soared 14% at Old Navy.

Gap expects third-quarter earnings between 42 cents and 44 cents a share, above Wall Street's estimates of 38 cents a share.

Regardless, only 7.7% of users voted for the specialty retailer.

Finally, though, TheStreet users got it right with Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF:NYSE) , with only 4.9% saying its monthly results would signal a positive outlook.

The teen retailer reported a 15% plunge in October same-store sales, with its namesake store falling 8%, its children's chain abercrombie down 17%, Hollister off 21% and Ruehl down 23%.

Regardless, shares of the company still managed to end the week up 6.7% to $35.01.

-- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York

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