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Target Soars Most Since March as a Big Retail Winner in Pandemic
- Physical stores posted 10.9% sales jump despite virus fears
- Shares jump to record high; biggest intraday gain since March
A shopper wearing a protective mask walks past a Target Corp. store in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Photographer: Jeenah Moon/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
For nearly all retailers, the pandemic has meant shoppers check out less often and stock up on each trip. But Target Corp. bucked that trend with record sales and profit last quarter, emerging as a winner in the Covid-19 era.
The shares jumped as much as 13% to their highest price ever on Wednesday after Target reported a 4.6% gain in U.S. transactions -- a proxy for both in-person and online customer traffic. That’s a feat even chief rival Walmart Inc. couldn’t pull off, with the bigger retailer reporting a 14% drop on that measure.