Retail giant Target (TGT) had one critical advantage in the field for quite some time. It was willing to engage in price matching, which allows customers to bring some kind of proof that someone else was selling the same item for less and get that price. But Target recently decided to drop that plan, and shareholders did not take the news well. Shares of Target slipped fractionally in Monday afternoon’s trading.
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Basically, reports note, Target discovered that customers were overwhelmingly price matching Target, but were not price matching other retailers. So, with that, Target decided to shut down the concept altogether, allowing it to refocus on other directions in an increasingly rocky retail environment. With tariff pressures on one side, still-high inflation on the other, and declining foot traffic besides, Target needed to focus on something that would increase traffic and get sales. Price matching did not seem to do that job.
Target even recently went so far as to establish frozen prices on some seasonal items, designed to help hold the line on price hikes in a tariff-heavy market. But some are already wondering if that is more a matter of “…desperation as much as differentiation,” and ultimately, wondering, “Can anyone thrive when the shopper won’t save them?”.
Barclays Sinks
Meanwhile, Target’s ratings took a hit as Barclays analysts weighed in. While Barclays analysts left the price target of $91 per share solidly alone, the rating dropped from Equal Weight to Underweight. Essentially, Barclays is looking for Target to bring out a major shift in strategy. Without such a shift, Barclays asserts, Target’s sales will “…continue to underperform.”
It is a safe bet that revoking price matching will not be the kind of strategic shift that Barclays analysts were looking for. But there are really only so many options in a market where product mix is limited due to mounting tariff pressures.
Is Target Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on TGT stock based on 10 Buys, 19 Holds and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 31.49% loss in its share price over the past year, the average TGT price target of $102.50 per share implies 0.05% downside risk.
