Target highlights slowdown in US consumer spending

Target shares are down 1.6% in the pre-market but more important might be what the large retailer said about state of the US consumer.

“Our topline performance for the month was soft,” CFO Jim Lee said. He highlighted poor weather but said that “declining consumer confidence impacted our discretionary assortment overall.”

Until now, most of the weak US numbers have been surveys, which can be skewed by politics or transient effects. The comments from Target suggest that the spending slowdown is real, though we won’t really know until winter weather wraps up.

For its part, Target doesn’t see a big pickup with the company forecasting comp sales “in a range around flat” for the full-year 2025.

“In light of ongoing consumer uncertainty and a small decline in February
Net Sales, combined with tariff uncertainty and the expected timing of
certain costs within the fiscal year, the Company expects to see
meaningful year-over-year profit pressure in its first quarter relative
to the remainder of the year,” the company said in the earnings release.

“We will continue to monitor these trends and will remain appropriately cautious with our expectations for the year ahead,” Lee said.

S&P 500 futures are down 0.7%.

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.