Target Corporation shares gain the most in two weeks on Tuesday, Q4 performance forecasts revised down as holiday sales disappoint

Target Corporation (TGT) revised down its forecasts regarding Q4 comparable store sales and earnings, while pointing out “softer-than-expected” holiday sales – a result of disappointing traffic and sales trends. According to the retailer, growth of toy sales was more than offset by lower sales of electronics, entertainment, essential products and food.

Target Corporation shares gained the most since January 4th on Tuesday. The stock went up 1.07% ($0.75) to $70.94, after climbing as high as $72.08, or a level not seen since January 6th ($72.23). In the week ended on January 15th the shares of the retailer lost 1.75% of their market value compared to a week ago, which marked the seventh consecutive period of decline. However, the stock has pared its drop to 1.79% so far during the current month, following a 6.49% slump in December. The latter has been the worst monthly performance since August 2016. For the entire 2016, Target Corporation shares lost 0.52%.

The company now projects its comparable store sales for Q4 to shrink between 1.0% and 1.5%. The previous forecast pointed to a performance within the range between a 1.0% drop and a 1.0% surge. The retailer also projects lower earnings per share during the fourth quarter of 2016 – within the $1.45-$1.55 range. The earlier forecast pointed to earnings within the $1.55-$1.75 range.

Full-year adjusted profit forecast has been downgraded as well – to $5.00-$5.10 per share from $5.10-$5.30 per share previously.

Targets comparable store sales were reported to have dropped 1.3% within the November-December period compared to the same months of 2015. At the same time, the companys total sales logged a 4.9% slump. These figures were likely impacted by the sale of Targets pharmacy and clinic business to CVS Health Corp (CVS) in 2015.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, todays levels of importance for the Target Corporation stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $71.07
R2 – $71.21
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $71.34
R4 (Long Breakout) – $71.74
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $72.20
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $72.40

S1 – $70.81
S2 – $70.67
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $70.54
S4 (Short Breakout) – $70.14
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $69.68
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $69.48

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Target Corporation (TGT) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $70.74
R1 – $71.46
R2 – $72.72
R3 – $73.44
R4 – $74.15

S1 – $69.48
S2 – $68.76
S3 – $67.50
S4 – $66.23