A Target corporate logo displayed outside its store (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)

Target slumps after missing Q1 estimates and slashing full-year guidance

The retailer blamed softer discretionary spending and consumer backlash for the chilly quarter, while warning of higher prices to come.

Nia Warfield

5/21/25 7:16AM

Target shares dropped over 4% in early trading Wednesday after the retailer missed Q1 estimates and cut its outlook for the year.

Adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.30 (excluding gains from litigation settlements), well below FactSet estimates of $1.60. Revenue dipped to $23.85 billion, shy of Wall Street’s $24.32 billion forecast. Comparable-store sales also fell 5.7% while analysts had anticipated a drop of only 2.5%. Digital comparable sales, however, rose 4.7%.

Looking ahead, Target now expects low single-digit sales declines this year, down from its previous forecast of 1% growth, and trimmed its full-year EPS outlook to $7 to $9 from $8.80 to $9.80.

Executives pointed to weaker discretionary spending, consumer pushback following the recent rollback of some DEI initiatives, and tariff concerns for the disappointing quarter. Target CEO Brian Cornell said the company has now lost market share in more than half of its 35 tracked merchandise categories.

On the tariff front, Target plans to raise some prices to offset higher import costs. The company is continuing to shift production away from China, where half its goods are still made. Target’s private label sourcing from China has already dropped from 60% to 30%, and it expects to bring that down to 25% by next year.

The retailer also announced leadership shake-ups and a new “Enterprise Acceleration Office” led by COO Michael Fiddelke, aimed at streamlining operations and reigniting momentum. Legal chief Amy Tu and strategy head Christina Hennington will also be stepping down.

Heading into Wednesday’s session, Target shares were down about 28% year to date.

Max Knoblauch

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Rivian turns red on the year, squeezed by a recall and the looming end of the EV tax credit

Shares of EV maker Rivian are down more than 5% on Friday following the company’s recall of 24,214 vehicles due to a software issue. The stock move erases Rivian’s year-to-date gain and turns the company negative on the year.

Rivian’s 2025 model year R1S and R1T are affected by the defect, which was identified after a vehicle’s hands-free highway assist software failed to identify another vehicle on the road, causing a low-speed collision. Rivian said it’s released an over-the-air update to fix the issue.

The recall marks Rivian’s fifth this year, affecting nearly 70,000 of its vehicles.

Rivian’s shares are down more than 20% from their 2025 high, which came prior to the passage of President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” Through the legislation, the $7,500 EV tax credit is set to expire at the end of the month.

J. Edward Moreno

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Moderna, Pfizer dip after WaPo reports Trump officials’ plan to link Covid vaccines to child deaths

Vaccine makers are falling after The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration plans to link the coronavirus vaccine to 25 child deaths.

Moderna and Pfizer, the two companies who sell the vaccine in the US, fell by more than 5% and 2%, respectively. The coronavirus vaccine is virtually the only revenue driver for Moderna, while Pfizer has a larger and more diverse portfolio.

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RH slips after missing Q2 estimates and trimming its outlook amid cost pressure

Restoration Hardware shares dropped Friday morning after the luxury furniture brand missed Q2 estimates and tightened its full-year outlook.

Adjusted earnings per share came in at $2.93, below the Street’s estimate of $3.21. Revenue was $899.2 million, also missing analysts’ forecast of $905 million.

RH now expects full-year revenue growth of 9% to 11%, down from prior guidance of 10% to 13%, as margins get squeezed by tariffs and weakness in the housing market. Wall Street had been looking for about 10% growth this year.

The retailer is taking steps to blunt cost pressures, including shifting sourcing away from China. RH expects receipts to fall from 16% in Q1 to 2% in Q4, with vendors absorbing a meaningful portion of the tariff impact. RH is also boosting US manufacturing capacity in North Carolina and pushing back a new concept launch to next spring.

RH shares are down about 43% year to date.

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Super Micro rises as the company begins shipments of Nvidia Blackwell chips

Super Micro Computer jumped over 6% in premarket trading on Friday after the company announced it has started shipping “Plug-and-Play (PnP)-ready” racks powered by Nvidia’s new Blackwell Ultra chips, giving data center customers a ready-made option to scale up their AI infrastructure.

The rollout enables what SMCI calls “turn-key day-one” operations, with the entire racks preassembled and tested to work out of the box.

“Data center customers face many AI infrastructure challenges: complex network topology and cabling, power delivery, and thermal management,” CEO Charles Liang said. “Through Supermicro Data Center Building Block Solutions with our expertise in on-site deployment, we enable turn-key delivery of the highest-performance AI platform — critical for customers seeking to invest in cutting-edge technology.”

The company says the new system’s performance jumps up to 7.5x over Nvidia’s previous-generation chips. It’s also designed to run more efficiently, using less power and water while taking up less floor space, cutting the overall operating costs by 20%, according to the statement.

The launch comes after a rocky August, when SMCI’s shares plunged on weaker-than-expected quarterly results and management trimmed its annual revenue target.

Investors in Super Micro have endured much volatility this year, as the company has failed to deliver on multiple occasions. Even so, the shares are up nearly 50% year to date.