Target foundational best practices position it for long-term growth – Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler reiterated an Overweight rating and $180 per share price target on Target (TGT) in a note Friday following recent meetings with the retailer’s CEO.

Analysts at Piper Sandler said they came away from the recent store walk with CEO Brian Cornell and the company’s senior regional leadership that a focus on foundational best practices will help drive near-term performance and position TGT for long-term growth.

“TGT has added $30B in revenue from 2019 to 2023E (38% growth vs 23% at WMT) and has been focused on improving operational efficiency and discipline in 2023 – and we expect continued gains next year,” the analysts wrote.

The analysts noted that TGT has made some significant strides in inventory, while a more efficient stocking process, a focus on data integrity, and close collaboration with vendors have helped the company.

“We also think TGT is well positioned to lean into improving medium-term discretionary trends, the stock remains one of our favorite ideas for 2024 at 14.4x 2024E P/E,” they added.