Target plans on rolling out its seasonal sales earlier than it has in previous years
Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) is prepping itself for the upcoming holiday season, announcing on Thursday that it plans to hire up to 100,000 seasonal workers, and sharing that it would start rolling out some of its holiday deals earlier than ever. This announcement closely follows Walmart's (WMT) plans to take on 40,000 workers as winter approaches, while retailers brace themselves for the key shopping season, even amid rising inflation pressures and a sluggish economy.
Target stock is little changed in response to the news, last seen up 0.2 points at $159.40. The security has had a rough go of it in recent months. An attempt to close its mid-May bear gap was stopped sort by a dismal earnings turnout in August, as well as the stock's 110-day moving average. This trendline snuffed out another rally attempt just one month later, sending TGT to a 31.3% year-to-date deficit. There is a bit of bright side, however, as the security looks to have found a floor at the $158 region during this rocky time period.
Despite this, analysts remain optimistic. Of the 25 in coverage, 18 say "strong buy," compared to seven "hold" ratings. Plus, the 12-month consensus price target of $191.38 is a 20.3% premium to current levels.
Elsewhere, sentiment has turned a bit more bearish. Short interest has risen 17.1% in the last two reporting periods. Plus, the Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.41 sits higher than all other readings from the past year. This implies short-term options traders haven't been more put-biased recently.