Target Muscles Past Estimates

Profits rise 21% from a year ago on a 10.7% rise in revenue.
By Meredith Derby ,

Target

(TGT) - Get Report

easily surpassed analysts' fourth-quarter earnings expectations, posting a 21.1% increase in net profit and an increase in total revenue.

The company earned $832 million, or 91 cents a share, in the quarter ended Jan. 31, compared with the Wall Street consensus for 87 cents a share. The company earned $688 million, or 75 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.

"As expected, we delivered much stronger growth in the fourth quarter than in our first nine months," the company said in a statement.

Total sales increased 10.7% to $15.57 billion with comparable-store sales up 4.9%.

The company noted that it lacked sales leverage at its Mervyn's and Marshall Field's stores. Total sales at Mervyn's fell 4.1% to $1.1 billion and comp-store sales were down 4.7% in the segment. And sales at Marshall Field's dropped 1.2% to $791 million, while same-store sales increased 0.5%.

Shares of the company were up 11 cents, or 0.3%, at $42.40 in premarket trading.

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