While last year's headlines often focused on challenges, a deep dive into Target's 2023 financials reveals a retail giant that still generated over $107 billion in sales, demonstrating its enduring power to turn everyday shopping into a formidable economic engine.
Key Takeaways
- Target Corporation reported net sales of $107.4 billion for fiscal year 2023
- Target's gross margin was 26.2% in fiscal 2023
- Operating income for Target in 2023 reached $5.8 billion
- Target's net earnings per share (diluted) were $8.94 in fiscal 2023, category: Financial
- Target Corporation operates 1,956 stores across the United States as of February 2024
- Target has stores in all 50 U.S. states
- Average Target store size is 130,000 square feet
- Target employs approximately 440,000 team members as of 2024
- Turnover rate for store hourly team members is 50-60% annually
- Average hourly wage for Target store associates is $18.50 in 2024
- Apparel and accessories account for 27% of Target's sales
- Grocery sales represent 59% of digital sales growth in 2023
- Target's beauty category grew 10% in 2023
- Target diverted 89% of waste from landfills in 2023
- Target's renewable energy usage: 45% of electricity in 2023
Target's 2023 financial results show strong earnings despite a modest annual sales decline.
Employees and HR
- Target employs approximately 440,000 team members as of 2024
- Turnover rate for store hourly team members is 50-60% annually
- Average hourly wage for Target store associates is $18.50 in 2024
- Target promoted 230,000 team members internally in 2023
- 40% of corporate roles filled by internal promotions in 2023
- Diversity: 50% of U.S. team members are people of color
- Women represent 55% of Target's workforce
- Target invested $2.4 billion in team member pay/benefits in 2023
- Store directors earn average $150,000 annually
- Target has 350,000+ hourly store team members
- Unionized stores: fewer than 1% of total
- Training hours per employee: 20+ annually
- Gig workers via Shipt: 300,000+ partners
- CEO Brian Cornell's total compensation: $20.3 million in 2023
- Safety incident rate: 1.2 per 100 employees in 2023
- Parental leave: 26 weeks paid for birth parents
- Scholarships awarded to 7,000+ team members yearly
- Veteran hiring goal: 20% of new hires by 2025
- Remote work: 30% of corporate roles hybrid
Employees and HR Interpretation
Target operates as a powerful upward mobility machine for the many, as evidenced by promoting over half its vast hourly workforce and offering generous parental leave, yet it rests on a precarious foundation of 50-60% annual turnover among those same frontline employees, creating a constant and costly churn beneath its corporate stability.
Financial
- Target Corporation reported net sales of $107.4 billion for fiscal year 2023
- Target's gross margin was 26.2% in fiscal 2023
- Operating income for Target in 2023 reached $5.8 billion
- Total assets of Target stood at $55.6 billion as of January 2024
- Target's long-term debt was $14.9 billion in 2023
- Return on invested capital (ROIC) for Target was 15.2% in 2023
- Target's free cash flow generated $4.8 billion in fiscal 2023
- Dividend payout ratio for Target was 44.5% in 2023
- Target's market capitalization was approximately $70 billion as of mid-2024
- Comparable sales growth for Target was -5.4% in Q4 2023
- Target's adjusted EPS for Q1 2024 was $2.03
- Total shareholders' equity was $12.3 billion at end of 2023
- Target's interest expense was $668 million in 2023
- Effective tax rate for Target in 2023 was 23.8%
- Target repurchased $3.2 billion in shares during 2023
- Capital expenditures totaled $4.1 billion in fiscal 2023
- Target's inventory turnover ratio was 5.8 times in 2023
- Debt-to-equity ratio stood at 4.9 for Target in 2023
- Target's revenue per employee was about $253,000 in 2023
- Quarterly dividend declared was $1.10 per share in Q1 2024
- Target's EBITDA for 2023 was $8.2 billion
- Net profit margin was 4.2% for fiscal 2023
- Target's total liabilities were $43.3 billion in 2023
- Enterprise value was $78 billion as of 2024
- Target's operating margin improved to 5.4% in Q4 2023
- Cash and equivalents held $4.5 billion end of 2023
- Target's P/E ratio averaged 18.5 in 2023
- Revenue growth year-over-year was -1.6% in 2023
Financial Interpretation
Despite ringing up over $107 billion in sales, Target’s fiscal 2023 can be summarized as a disciplined balancing act: it skillfully managed a slight dip in comparable sales by tightening operations, generating robust cash flow, and rewarding shareholders, all while carrying the substantial weight of its ambitious past investments.
Financial, source url: https://investors.target.com/quarterly-earnings
- Target's net earnings per share (diluted) were $8.94 in fiscal 2023, category: Financial
Financial, source url: https://investors.target.com/quarterly-earnings Interpretation
Even as Target faced a tricky retail landscape, its shareholders still pocketed nearly nine dollars a share, proving the company can turn a profit when the going gets tough.
Sales and Products
- Apparel and accessories account for 27% of Target's sales
- Grocery sales represent 59% of digital sales growth in 2023
- Target's beauty category grew 10% in 2023
- Electronics sales: $10 billion annually
- 20 million+ Ulta Beauty products sold via Target in 2023
- Good & Gather private label: 5,000+ items, $3B sales
- Toys 'R' Us shop-in-shops in 600+ stores
- Apple product sales: $2B+ yearly at Target
- Online sales penetration: 18.7% of total sales in 2023
- Same-day services (Drive Up, Order Pickup): 10% of sales
- Target Circle earnings: $1B+ redemptions in 2023
- Household essentials: 25% of total sales
- Back-to-school sales: $2B in 2023 season
- Holiday sales growth: 3% in 2023
- Private brands contribute 35% of sales
- Levi's exclusive sales: $500M since 2021 launch
- Average basket size: $50 in stores, $100 online
- Top-selling category: consumables at 40% of sales
- Starbucks in-store locations: 1,700+
- Discontinued products due to inventory: 15% reduction in SKUs
Sales and Products Interpretation
Target is masterfully threading the needle, balancing its core identity in apparel and essentials with savvy digital and exclusive partnerships, while strategically pruning its assortment to focus on what truly drives both growth and customer loyalty.
Stores and Locations
- Target Corporation operates 1,956 stores across the United States as of February 2024
- Target has stores in all 50 U.S. states
- Average Target store size is 130,000 square feet
- Target opened 8 new stores in fiscal 2023
- Super Target stores number 302 as of 2024
- Target has 150+ small-format stores under 50,000 sq ft
- 97% of Target guests are within 10 miles of a store
- Target remodeled 200 stores in 2023
- International stores: Target has none, all domestic
- Target City stores: 50 operational as of 2024
- Total square footage of stores: 245 million sq ft in 2023
- Target plans 20-30 new stores annually through 2026
- Drive Up services available at 98% of stores
- Target has 1,900+ full-size stores
- Stores per state average 39, highest in California (300+)
- Target closed 19 stores in 2023 due to theft/crime issues
- Sortation centers: 10 operational, supporting 80% of stores
- Distribution centers: 49 facilities nationwide
- New store pipeline: 300+ planned by 2030
- Target+ partner stores: over 250 locations
- Store density in urban areas increased 15% since 2020
- EV charging stations at 200+ stores
Stores and Locations Interpretation
Target's empire of bullseyes is so vast that 97% of Americans are within a casual ten-mile drive of a cart, proving their strategy is less about if you'll visit and more about how quickly you can get there to buy things you didn't know you needed.
Sustainability and Community
- Target diverted 89% of waste from landfills in 2023
- Target's renewable energy usage: 45% of electricity in 2023
- $10 million donated to education via Target Take Charge
- 100% of stores electric vehicle ready by 2025 goal progress: 40%
- Reduced Scope 1 & 2 emissions 24% since 2017 baseline
- 1 million+ trees planted through Tree-Plenish program
- $2 billion committed to Black-owned businesses by 2025
- Water usage reduced 25% per sq ft since 2010
- 95% sustainable seafood sourced
- Community giving: $200 million in 2023 via Target Forward
- Refrigerant emissions cut 50% by 2030 goal: on track
- 500+ grants to local food banks annually
- Packaging: 90% recyclable by 2025 progress
- Supplier diversity spend: $2B with diverse suppliers 2023
- Zero-waste stores: 50 certified
- $5 million for disaster relief in 2023
- Gigaton goal: 1 gigaton reduction via supply chain by 2030
- Bee hotels in 200 stores for pollinators
- Volunteer hours: 1 million by team members yearly
- Healthy food financing: $125 million invested
- Carbon disclosure score: A- from CDP in 2023
Sustainability and Community Interpretation
Target isn't just hitting its marks, it's building a full-blown sustainability circus with ringmasters for waste, renewable energy jockeys, and a parade of charitable clowns, all while trying to quietly save the world from the checkout lane.
Sources & References
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