Target posts decline in key sales metric for September but tops analyst estimates

Target September sales metric beats estimates

MINNEAPOLIS — Target says a key sales measure dipped 1.7 percent in September but beat analyst estimates. The result led the discount retailer to predict third-quarter earnings per share above Wall Street’s forecast.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected sales at stores open at least a year to dip 2 percent in September. The metric is considered a key retail performance indicator because it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

Overall sales climbed 1.3 percent in September to $5.39 billion, according to Minneapolis-based Target Corp.

So far this year, net sales at the retailer are down less than 1 percent to $39.18 billion, while sales in locations open at least a year slid 4.3 percent.

Target owns more than 1,700 stores in 49 states.