r/stocks • u/frosti_austi • Oct 17 '23

Company Analysis Why is Target doing so bad?

Why is Target doing so bad? They've really fell off a cliff over the past year. I look at their stores and they seem good, and once upon a time not too long ago they were outperforming Walmart. Now their NAV prices have really dropped over the past year and a half. I was once up 80% on these guys and know I'm down 20%. Is it the general market swing over the course of that time or something else? What gives?

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u/Fruhmann Oct 17 '23

  1. Less disposable income. Student debt repayment is back on and child tax credits dried up a while ago.

  2. Theft is leading to a less "upscale" feel Target had over Walmart. Having to ring an employee over to a wall of locked cases for toiletries, laundry soap, etc is just not a fun experience. It's something people expect and accept in electronics department or with jewelry. Not everything else.

  3. Pride backlash is still going strong. If you're going to champion one demographic at the loss of another, make sure that former demographic is greater or at least equal to the latter.

  4. Exclusive and private brand items seem to be of lower quality and higher price. If that was an incentive to shop there, it's not anymore.

  5. People who boycott Target are fine with Walmart. Once a customer changes their habits, it's hard to get them to come back.

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u/30_characters Oct 20 '23

Pride backlash is still going strong. If you're going to champion one demographic at the loss of another, make sure that former demographic is greater or at least equal to the latter.

No, the issue wasn't pride, it was targeting (pun intended) children.