On May 23, Target Corporation
- The continued success of Target's credit-card business, designer-sponsored clothing lines, and generic drug sales helped generate a 17.5% growth in revenue.
- Leverage on selling, general, and administrative expenses -- coupled with lower cost of sales -- helped improve margins.
- Inventory was effectively managed, as it increased only 5.9%, compared to a 9% rise in total sales.
- While competitor Wal-Mart
(NYSE:WMT) still rules the discount retailing world, investors in the Motley Fool CAPS online community seem more bullish about Target; they offer the company a rating of four stars out of five. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart only earns two stars.
(Figures in millions, except per-share data.)
Income Statement Highlights
|
Q1 2007 |
Q1 2006 |
Change |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Sales |
$14,041.0 |
$12,863.0 |
9.2% |
|
Net Profit |
$651.0 |
$554.0 |
17.5% |
|
EPS |
$0.75 |
$0.63 |
19.0% |
|
Diluted Shares |
862.8 |
877.6 |
(1.7%) |
Get back to basics with the income statement.
Margin Checkup
|
Q1 2007 |
Q1 2006 |
Change* |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Gross Margin |
34.6% |
34.1% |
0.5 |
|
Operating Margin |
8.6% |
7.9% |
0.6 |
|
Net Margin |
4.6% |
4.3% |
0.3 |
Margins are the earnings engine.
Balance Sheet Highlights
|
Assets |
Q1 2007 |
Q1 2006 |
Change |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Cash + ST Invest. |
$969.0 |
$989.0 |
(2.0%) |
|
Accounts Rec. |
$6,006.0 |
$5,368.0 |
11.9% |
|
Inventory |
$6,387.0 |
$6,030.0 |
5.9% |
|
Liabilities |
Q1 2007 |
Q1 2006 |
Change |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Accounts Payable |
$5,877.0 |
$5,707.0 |
3.0% |
|
Long-Term Debt |
$10,151.0 |
$8,596.0 |
18.1% |
The balance sheet reflects the company's health.
Cash Flow Highlights
|
Q1 2007 |
Q1 2006 |
Change |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Cash From Ops. |
$462.0 |
$527.0 |
(12.3%) |
|
Capital Expenditures |
$1,183.0 |
$884.0 |
33.8% |
|
Free Cash Flow |
($721.0) |
($357.0) |
N/A |
Free cash flow is a Fool's best friend.
Related Foolishness:
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Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so check Fool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean. This data has been provided by Netscribes. To provide feedback on this article, please click on the "feedback" button below.
