Target Is Up 58% This Year. Here's Why the Dividend King Has a Lot to Prove on Aug. 19.

Key Points Target CEO Michael Fiddelke appears to have the big-box retailer back on track after a long dry spell for growth. The fiscal Q1 results it released in May were encouraging, and included a significant upward revision to full-year revenue guidance. The company will need to meet interim quarterly milestones to maintain this new bullish interest in this long-beaten-down stock. 10 stocks we like better than Target › It's been a surprisingly good year so far for Target (NYSE: TGT) shareholders. After several years of disappointing sales resulting in a broadly declining stock performance, shares of this retailer are up 58% year to date. Simply put, investors are finally seeing a glimmer of hope for a turnaround . Total revenue rose 6.7% year over year in its first fiscal quarter, which ended in early May. That was driven in part by a 4.4% increase in foot traffic, resulting in same-store sales growth of 5.6%. Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue » Although analysts don't expect Target's fiscal second-quarter numbers to grow quite as much as they did in Q1, the company's still quite optimistic: When it reported in May, it doubled its previous full-year sales growth guidance from around 2% to around 4%. Management's also looking for earnings per share of between $7.50 and $8.50 for fiscal 2026 (which will end in late January). The analysts' consensus expectation is for earnings per share of $8.43. The stock's recent buyers are essentially betting this big-box retailer will remain on track to at least meet those expectations, although some investors are also likely counting on better-than-expected numbers. Image source: Getty Images. This, of course, makes Aug. 19 a critical day for anyone betting on a continued turnaround. Although the company hasn't yet officially confirmed the date (it typically doesn't do so until the day before), most analysts expect Target to post its second-quarter results on that day. And those numbers will either affirm or call into question whether the retailer is truly on track to meet its full-year guidance. On that score, the analyst community expects to hear that Target turned $26.08 billion in revenue into a per-share profit of $2.30 for the three-month stretch that ended early this month. Just don't lose perspective: While every quarter is important for a company like Target that has so much to prove, one single quarter won't necessarily prove enough of anything for investors to make a true long-term call on this ticker. Should you buy stock in Target right now? Before you buy stock in Target, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Target wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $421,943 !* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,382,819 !* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 983 % — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 216% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor , and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 15, 2026. James Brumley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Target. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .

Target CEO Michael Fiddelke appears to have the big-box retailer back on track after a long dry spell for growth.

The fiscal Q1 results it released in May were encouraging, and included a significant upward revision to full-year revenue guidance.

The company will need to meet interim quarterly milestones to maintain this new bullish interest in this long-beaten-down stock.

It's been a surprisingly good year so far for Target (NYSE: TGT) shareholders. After several years of disappointing sales resulting in a broadly declining stock performance, shares of this retailer are up 58% year to date.

Simply put, investors are finally seeing a glimmer of hope for a turnaround . Total revenue rose 6.7% year over year in its first fiscal quarter, which ended in early May. That was driven in part by a 4.4% increase in foot traffic, resulting in same-store sales growth of 5.6%.

Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »

Although analysts don't expect Target's fiscal second-quarter numbers to grow quite as much as they did in Q1, the company's still quite optimistic: When it reported in May, it doubled its previous full-year sales growth guidance from around 2% to around 4%. Management's also looking for earnings per share of between $7.50 and $8.50 for fiscal 2026 (which will end in late January). The analysts' consensus expectation is for earnings per share of $8.43.