Target’s Stock Takes a Beating

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Target Corp. on Tuesday reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $817 million.

The Minneapolis-based company said it had profit of $1.45 per share.

The results fell short of Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.50 per share.

The retailer posted revenue of $20.69 billion in the period, which also fell short of Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $20.75 billion.

Target expects full-year earnings to be $3.80 to $4 per share.

The report from the Minnesota-based retailer was released before Wall Street trading began Tuesday and pre-market activity pointed to a rough day for Target stock. By the end of the trading day, Target's stock had suffered its biggest one day price decline since the company went public in 1972. The price sank to $57.30 in early trading but ended at $58.77, a loss of more than $8 a share, or just over 12 percent. That was the largest percentage drop for Target stock since December 2008. The huge selloff resulted in a decline in the company's market cap of more than $4 billion.