The chief information officer of Target, Beth Jacob, has resigned, becoming the latest domino to fall in a story that began late last year with a data breach of Target's systems, resulting in compromised financial information for 40 million customers.
In the lead story from Wednesday's edition of Investor Beat, host Chris Hill and Motley Fool analysts Bill Barker and Jason Moser discuss the move. While it wasn't necessarily unexpected, this may now increase the pressure on CEO Greg Steinhafel. Jason notes that with credit card fraud on the rise globally and particularly in the United States, Internet security will need to be a top priority for the company going forward. Bill and Chris also mention that with the continued struggles related to this story emerging so slowly over time for the company, market confidence in the stock is taking more damage than it would have, as consumers continue to see concerning news around Target in the headlines.
Then the guys look at four stocks making moves on the market today. Smith & Wesson was up big today after third-quarter earnings came in higher than expected. The gunmaker also raised guidance. Facebook is reportedly looking into buying drone maker Titan Aerospace for $60 million. Hovnanian fell today after the homebuilder's loss in the first quarter was bigger than analysts were expecting. And in a recent public filing, Chipotle cited climate change as a business risk, going further to say that if the cost of avocados increases too much, Chipotle may suspend serving guacamole.
And finally, Bill and Jason each look at one stock they'll be watching closely this week. Bill looks at Costco and discusses why it will make a good barometer when it reports earnings tomorrow for how this year's exceptionally severe winter weather affected retailers as a whole, while Jason will be watching Craft Brew Alliance, a small brewer with a lot of big connections.
