Target Corporation (TGT)
🔔 Watch stock
Target has paid a dividend every quarter since its 1967 IPO and raised it for 54 consecutive years — rank 5 in our in-house Dividend Aristocrats scanner (US selection, as of July 18, 2026). We read the annual reports (10-K) and the quarterly report (10-Q) as of May 2, 2026: three years of shrinking sales, a 2025 boycott year spelled out in the risk factors, a tariff wildcard after the IEEPA ruling — and a comeback quarter whose earnings optically fall 24.5 percent while rising 31.6 percent adjusted. Not investment advice — just a reminder that a royal streak is not a pillow, it is a bill that has to be paid again every single year.
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 5 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. View all scanners
Basics
Performance
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
Quality & Screener
AI Rating
Uses AIDie Geschäftsberichte belegen breiten operativen KI-Einsatz: KI-Fähigkeiten in Sortimentsgestaltung, Planung, Bestandsmanagement und Personalisierung, der KI-Chatbot Store Companion, die KI-gestützte Werbe-Optimierung „Precision Plus by Roundel“ sowie eine Konzern-Umbauinitiative, die ausdrücklich auf KI und Daten setzt — aber keine KI-Produkte oder -Dienste als Umsatzquelle. Die KI-Risikopassagen (Wettbewerber-KI, KI-Werbekonkurrenz für Roundel, KI-gestützte Cyberangriffe) bleiben generische Wettbewerbs- und Technologie-Floskeln ohne Verkauft- oder Bedroht-Qualität; die vier jüngsten 10-Q enthalten keinerlei KI-Bezug.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„Enhanced artificial intelligence capabilities across merchandising, planning, inventory management, and personalization, and expanded the use of AI-powered tools to simplify work for store and headquarters teams"
[Wir haben 2025] die Fähigkeiten der Künstlichen Intelligenz in Sortimentsgestaltung, Planung, Bestandsmanagement und Personalisierung ausgebaut und den Einsatz KI-gestützter Werkzeuge ausgeweitet, um die Arbeit der Filial- und Zentralteams zu vereinfachen
„Invested in new artificial intelligence (AI) technology, including modernized AI-powered inventory management systems and Store Companion, an AI-powered chatbot designed to make team members' jobs easier and enhance the shopping experience"
[Wir haben 2024] in neue Technologie der Künstlichen Intelligenz (KI) investiert, darunter modernisierte KI-gestützte Bestandsmanagement-Systeme und Store Companion, einen KI-gestützten Chatbot, der die Arbeit der Mitarbeiter erleichtern und das Einkaufserlebnis verbessern soll
„This initiative is intended to simplify cross-functional ways of working, increase role clarity, leverage technology (including artificial intelligence) and data to enhance decision-making, and reduce costs."
Diese Initiative soll bereichsübergreifende Arbeitsweisen vereinfachen, Rollen klarer zuschneiden, Technologie (einschließlich Künstlicher Intelligenz) und Daten für bessere Entscheidungen nutzen und Kosten senken.
Rated on July 18, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Quarterly Figures
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025: Q1 | 2.41 | -19.40 | 30,915 | -3.10 | 3.60 | 3,289 | 2,366 |
| 2025: Q2 | 2.27 | 11.80 | 23,846 | -2.80 | 4.30 | 275 | -515 |
| 2025: Q3 | 2.05 | -20.30 | 25,211 | -0.90 | 3.70 | 2,083 | 1,009 |
| 2025: Q4 | 1.51 | -18.20 | 25,270 | -1.60 | 2.70 | 1,127 | 149 |
| 2026: Q1 | 2.30 | -4.60 | 30,453 | -1.50 | 3.40 | 3,077 | 2,287 |
| 2026: Q2 | 1.71 | -24.50 | 25,443 | 6.70 | 3.10 | 716 | -319 |
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
A dividend every quarter since the 1967 IPO (10-Q as of 05/02/2026), raised 54 consecutive years (curated S&P list, as of June 2026); payout ratio about 56 percent of GAAP earnings and roughly 70 percent of free cash flow in FY 2025 — funded, but the raises have shrunk to 1.8 percent a year.
Three straight down years in sales ($109.1 billion → $104.8 billion, FY 2022 through 2025), adjusted EPS −14.5 percent in FY 2025, operating margin at 4.9 percent, ROIC down from 15.1 to 12.4 percent — the foundation under the streak has narrowed.
Sales +6.7 percent, comparable sales +5.6 percent with traffic +4.4 percent (prior year: −2.4), gross margin 29.0 after 28.2 percent, adjusted operating income +29.1 percent (10-Q as of 05/02/2026) — a broad reversal, but one quarter so far.
"Consumer boycotts organized throughout 2025" sits verbatim in the risk factors of the FY 2025 10-K; full-year traffic −2.2 percent. A polarized customer base that can stay away in organized fashion — in either direction — remains a structural risk for a traffic-driven business model.
About half the merchandise imported, China the largest single source; IEEPA tariffs struck down (02/20/2026), refunds trickling in ("not material" so far, nothing on the balance sheet), while new Section 122 tariffs are already in place — two open lottery tickets, net effect unquantifiable per the company itself.
P/E around 18.5 trailing, P/S around 0.6, price to operating cash flow around 9, dividend yield around 3.3 percent (data as of mid-July 2026) — a fair price for reliability without proof of growth; scanner confluence: Aristocrats rank 5 (US) plus two value rankings.
Target is the case of a royal dividend streak standing on a narrowed foundation: 54 years of raises and a dividend every quarter since 1967 stand against three years of falling sales, a boycott year with a documented traffic loss and an unquantifiable tariff bill. The first quarter of 2026 delivered the first real proof of a turn — traffic, margin and adjusted earnings all improved — while the GAAP optics remain distorted by the prior year's interchange windfall. Whoever invests here buys roughly 3.3 percent in dividend yield with royal lineage and bets that a comeback quarter becomes a comeback year. Not investment advice.
- TGT entered the research list through the in-house Dividend Aristocrats scanner: rank 5 of the US selection (25 hits, sorted by relative strength, as of July 18, 2026); simultaneous hits in the P/S and P/CF rankings — "royalty" and "bargain bin" in the same finding.
- The 54 consecutive increase years come from the scanner's curated S&P 500 Aristocrats list (as of June 2026); the SEC filings themselves verbatim document "dividends every quarter since 1967" and the most recent raises of 1.8 percent each.
- All GAAP-versus-adjusted comparisons carry the $593 million interchange effect of FY 2025 ($0.97 per share in the Q1 prior-year base); analyses are evergreen, daily prices are not a buy argument. Target's fiscal year ends in late January/early February — every annual figure carries that offset.
About the Company
Target Corporation ist ein Einzelhändler für allgemeine Waren in den USA. Es bietet Bekleidung für Frauen, Männer, junge Erwachsene, Kinder und Babys sowie Schmuck, Accessoires und Schuhe an, dazu Beautyprodukte wie Haut- und Badepflege, Kosmetik, Haarpflege, Mundpflege und Deodorant.
| Employees | 415,000 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Minneapolis, MN |
| Website | corporate.target.com |
| IPO Date | 6. Apr 1983 |
| Next Earnings | 19. Aug 2026 |
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Brian C. Cornell | Executive Chair of the Board | 1959 |
| Michael J. Fiddelke | CEO & Director | 1977 |
| James Lee | Executive VP & CFO | 1975 |
| Melissa K. Kremer | Executive VP & Chief HR Officer | 1978 |
| Lisa R. Roath | Executive VP & COO | 1978 |
| Matthew A. Liegel | Senior VP, Chief Accounting Officer & Controller | 1977 |
| Pratabkumar Vemana | Executive VP and Chief Information & Product Officer | 1972 |
| John Hulbert | Vice President of Investor Relations | – |
| Grant B. McGee J.D. | Executive VP and Chief Legal & Compliance Officer | 1981 |
| Joe Contrucci | Senior Vice President of Stores Operations | – |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
Data as of: July 20, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.