Can Target Turn Fortunes Around Over Holiday Season? [Video]

Ahead of this year’s holiday shopping season, Target published its third quarter earnings report on Wednesday, which featured a lower than expected sales increase of just 0.3 percent over its previous quarter, while the company’s net income of $854 million was down from $971 million in the year-ago period.

Target also said it expects its fourth quarter earnings per share to be between $1.85 and $2.45, down from the $2.65 predicted by analysts who were polled by FactSet.

The move caused the company’s share price to slump by 22 percent on Wednesday, Target’s worst trading day in over two years. The shares have failed to recover their value over the past few days and at the end of Thursday were valued at $121.59 each, down from $157.25 at the close of Tuesday.

“I’m proud of our team’s efforts to navigate through a volatile operating environment during the third quarter…At the same time, we encountered some unique challenges and cost pressures …