Target Corporation (TGT) Slid on Dramatic Earnings Miss

Carillon Tower Advisers, an investment management company, released its “Carillon Eagle Growth & Income Fund” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The S&P 500 Index increased by 2.4% in Q4, reaching a 25.0% gain in 2024. The past two years have been the best for the stock market since the 1990s, with AI excitement driving returns and strong earnings growth. The market’s on-going multiple expansion—the S&P 500 Index currently has its highest multiple this century, excluding COVID years—accounted for about half of 2024’s returns, with the other half coming from robust earnings growth. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2024.

In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Carillon Eagle Growth & Income Fund emphasized stocks such as Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT). Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) is a US-based general merchandise retailer. The one-month return of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) was -18.78%, and its shares lost 37.18% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On March 17, 2025, Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) stock closed at $105.67 per share with a market capitalization of $48.141 billion.

Carillon Eagle Growth & Income Fund stated the following regarding Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:

“Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) missed earnings dramatically. The company’s sales were positive, but margins were disappointing due to higher expenses. While traffic was up, prices were down; consumers continued to seek value and shop during promotional periods. A one-time decision to re-route inventory ahead of the East Coast port strike also explains a large part of the company’s performance.”

Why Target Corp. (TGT) Went Down On Wednesday?

A woman purchasing groceries at a Target store, with a cart full of products.

Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 56 hedge fund portfolios held Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) at the end of the fourth quarter compared to 49 in the third quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

In another article, we discussed Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) and shared the list of defensive dividend stocks to buy during market sell off. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

READ NEXT: Michael Burry Is Selling These Stocks and A New Dawn Is Coming to US Stocks.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.