Target Corporation (TGT), Staples, Inc. (SPLS), Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (LOW): Retailers To Watch On Wednesday

A new day on the markets brings new stocks that are in the middle of everyone’s attention, benefitting from the most coverage. Since there are thousands of companies listed on the markets, looking at those that are the most covered might give an idea about the intraday market moves. In this way, on Wednesday, among trending stocks we can mention  Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT), Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLS), and Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW).

Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT), edged down 0.4% to $68.95 yesterday, while in pre-market trading it picked up 0.93% to $68.53. Today, Target reported its financial results for the second quarter. The net earnings of the company amount to $0.95 per share, or $611 million, in line with the expectations missing the analyst estimates by only $0.01. At the same time, company’s U.S sales went up by only 1.2%.  For the next quarter, Target forecasts adjusted EPS between $0.8 and $0.9 per share.

With an increase of 2.62%, Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLS) is the next on the list. The stock of Staples closed at 16.84, slightly below it’s 52-week high of $17.30 per share. Since the beginning of the year, Staples’s stock grew by about 47.7%. Before the market bell, Staples also announced its financial results for the second quarter of the year. In this way, company’s sales dropped by 2% on the year and totalled about $5.3 billion. The sales of the company were definitely affected by the closure of over 100 stores over the past year. Aside from declined sales, the earnings of Staples also declined to about $0.16 per share, versus last-year result of $0.18 per share. Weak results for the second quarter made the company cut their full-year outlooks, which now represent earnings in the $1.21-$1.25 range, vs the previous $1.30-$1.35. The market did not receive well the news, the stock of Staples losing over 9% in pre-market trading.

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) is another retailer whose quarter results we can observe. During the second quarter of the year, Lowe’s posted diluted EPS of $0.88, which represents a 37% increase over the year, while the sales of the company advanced by 10.3% on the year and totalled about $15.7 billion. “Home improvement demand was strong during the quarter, and we capitalized on it with improving execution. I’d like to thank our employees for their hard work and continued dedication to serving customers,” said Robert A. Niblock, Lowe’s chairman, president and CEO in a statement. Lowe’s currently operates over 1,700 stores on the North American continent. And while yesterday, the stock of Lowe’s ended flat, at $46.04, in the pre-market trading, amid positive results, Lowe’s shares gained over 4% to $46.03. Trailing at a P/E of 25.3x, the stock of Lowe’s has returned over 24% since the beginning of the year.

Let’s see how the market will receive the financial earnings of these three companies and what changes the reports will bring to their stocks.

Disclosure: none