Target shares are up 59% this year. Will it raise its full-year profit forecast when it reports Aug 19?

Target Corp. raised its full-year profit outlook on Aug. 19, 2026, after reporting fiscal second-quarter earnings of $4.11 per share, more than double the $2.05 posted a year earlier and above the roughly $2.29-$2.33 Wall Street had expected. The Minneapolis-based retailer lifted its fiscal 2026 earnings-per-share guidance to a range of $9.90 to $10.90, up from a prior forecast of $7.50 to $8.50, and raised its full-year net sales growth outlook to about 5%, a one-percentage-point increase from its earlier forecast.

Comparable sales climbed 3.8% in the quarter, topping the 2.4% consensus estimate, helped by 8.7% digital sales growth and firmer store traffic under Chief Executive Michael Fiddelke's turnaround effort. A $994 million pretax tariff-refund benefit added $1.65 per share to the quarter's results; excluding that refund, Target said the midpoint of its updated guidance was still well above its previous outlook, indicating improvement in the underlying business.

Target shares moved lower in premarket trading despite the earnings beat, as some investors questioned how much of the profit gain depended on the one-time tariff refund rather than core operations. The report came after Target shares had already climbed about 59% for the year. Prediction-market participants had put the odds of a guidance raise at 75% ahead of the release, a forecast that proved correct.