Target Corp (NYSE:TGT) stock fell 1.76% (As on August 21, 11:29:20 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company picked an insider to succeed veteran chief executive Brian Cornell to engineer a turnaround after years of disappointing sales.   Michael Fiddelke, Target’s chief operating officer, would replace Cornell in February 2026, the company said. The 49-year-old has worked at Target for 20 years, starting as a finance intern. Comparable sales declined 1.9 per cent year on year in the second quarter, the company said, the latest in a number of weak sales figures over the past two years. This is driven by a comparable store sales decline of 3.2 percent, partially offset by comparable digital sales growth of 4.3 percent.  Second quarter operating income of $1.3 billion was 19.4 percent lower than last year. Second quarter operating income margin rate was 5.2 percent in 2025, compared with 6.4 percent in 2024. Second quarter gross margin rate was 29.0 percent, compared with 30.0 percent in 2024, reflecting the net impact of merchandising activities, including higher markdown rates, purchase order cancellation costs, and pressure from category mix, partially offset by lower inventory shrink and growth in advertising and non-merchandise sales.

Moreover, Food and beverage categories grew slightly year-over-year driven by newness and floral offerings around key moments like Mother’s Day, along with new trending flavors throughout the assortment, including beverages, ice cream, snacks and other backyard barbecue essentials. In Q2, beauty sales were down slightly though the company did see many bright spots throughout the assortment.

TGT in the second quarter of FY25 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $2.05, missing the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of $2.09, according to Zacks Investment Research. The company had reported the adjusted revenue decline of 0.9 percent to $25.21 billion in the second quarter of FY25, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $24.91 billion. This is driven by a merchandise sales decrease of 1.2 percent, partially offset by a 14.2 percent increase in non-merchandise sales.

Meanwhile, the company has invested approximately $1.9 billion in capital expenditures so far this year and continue to expect full year CapEx in the $4 billion range as the company opens new stores, remodel existing ones and invest in the supply chain and technology. For full year, the company anticipates a low single-digit decline in the comparable sales and adjusted EPS of approximately $7 to $9.