Target (TGT) 10-Q2023 Q3 Quarterly report

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.  Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).   Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," "smaller reporting company," and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.  ☐     

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

Item 1. Financial Statements

We declared $1.10 and $1.08 dividends per share for the three months ended October 28, 2023 and October 29, 2022, respectively, and $4.14 per share for the fiscal year ended January 28, 2023.

These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission applicable to interim financial statements. While these statements reflect all normal recurring adjustments that are, in the opinion of management, necessary for fair presentation of the results of the interim period, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by United States generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP) for complete financial statements. These condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statement disclosures in our most recent Form 10-K.

We use the same accounting policies in preparing quarterly and annual financial statements.

We operate as a single segment that is designed to enable guests to purchase products seamlessly in stores or through our digital channels. Nearly all of our revenues are generated in the U.S. The vast majority of our long-lived assets are located within the U.S.

Due to the seasonal nature of our business, quarterly revenues, expenses, earnings, and cash flows are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full year.

Merchandise sales represent the vast majority of our revenues. We also earn revenues from a variety of other sources, most notably credit card profit-sharing income from our arrangement with TD Bank Group (TD).

Revenue from Target gift card sales is recognized upon gift card redemption, which is typically within one year of issuance.

Other Revenue

Fair value measurements are reported in one of three levels reflecting the significant inputs used to determine fair value.

We have arrangements with several financial institutions to act as our paying agents to certain vendors. The arrangements also permit the financial institutions to provide vendors with an option, at our vendors' sole discretion, to sell their receivables from Target to the financial institutions. A vendor’s election to receive early payment at a discounted amount from the financial institutions does not change the amount that we must remit to the financial institutions or our payment date, which is up to 120 days from the invoice date.

We do not pay any fees or pledge any security to these financial institutions under these arrangements. The arrangements can be terminated by either party with notice ranging up to 120 days.

Our outstanding vendor obligations eligible for early payment under these arrangements totaled $4.5 billion, $3.4 billion, and $4.5 billion as of October 28, 2023, January 28, 2023, and October 29, 2022, respectively, and are included within Accounts Payable on our Consolidated Statements of Financial Position. Our outstanding vendor obligations do not represent actual receivables sold by our vendors to the financial institutions, which may be lower.

We review long-lived assets for impairment when store performance expectations, events, or changes in circumstances—such as a decision to relocate or close a store, office, or distribution center, discontinue a project, or make significant software changes—indicate that the asset’s carrying value may not be recoverable. We recognized impairment charges of $64 million and $98 million for the three and nine months ended October 28, 2023, respectively. We recognized impairment charges of $5 million and $55 million for the three and nine months ended October 29, 2022, respectively. These impairment charges are included in Selling, General and Administrative Expenses (SG&A).

For the nine months ended October 28, 2023 and October 29, 2022, the maximum amounts outstanding were $90 million and $2.1 billion, respectively, and the average daily amounts outstanding were $1 million and $713 million, respectively, at a weighted average annual interest rate of 4.8 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.

No balances were outstanding as of October 28, 2023. As of October 29, 2022, $2.1 billion was outstanding and is classified within Current Portion of Long-Term Debt and Other Borrowings on our Consolidated Statements of Financial Position.

In October 2023, we obtained a new committed $1.0 billion 364-day unsecured revolving credit facility that will expire in October 2024 and terminated our prior 364-day credit facility. We also exercised our option to extend our existing five-year unsecured revolving credit facility, which has a maximum committed capacity of $3.0 billion and now expires in October 2028. No balances were outstanding under either credit facility at any time during 2023 or 2022.

We were party to interest rate swaps with notional amounts totaling $2.45 billion as of October 28, 2023, January 28, 2023, and October 29, 2022. We pay a floating rate and receive a fixed rate under each of these agreements. All of the agreements are designated as fair value hedges, and all were considered to be perfectly effective under the shortcut method during the three and nine months ended October 28, 2023 and October 29, 2022.

During 2023, we amended interest rate swaps with notional amounts totaling $1.5 billion to replace the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) with the daily Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) as part of our planned reference rate reform activities. These amendments did not result in any change to our application of hedge accounting or any impact to our consolidated financial statements.

We were party to forward-starting interest rate swaps with notional amounts totaling $1.45 billion as of October 29, 2022. During 2022, we terminated all remaining forward-starting interest rate swap agreements. The resulting gains upon termination were recorded in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss and will be recognized as a reduction to Net Interest Expense over the respective term of the debt.

We periodically repurchase shares of our common stock under a board-authorized repurchase program through a combination of open market transactions, accelerated share repurchase (ASR) arrangements, and other privately negotiated transactions with financial institutions. We did not repurchase any of our shares during the nine months ended October 28, 2023.

We provide pension plan benefits to eligible team members.

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

Third quarter 2023 included the following notable items:

Business Environment

During the third quarter of 2023, we experienced sales declines across our business, primarily in each of our Discretionary categories (Apparel & Accessories, Hardlines, and Home Furnishings & Décor), partially offset by net growth in Frequency categories (Beauty & Household Essentials and Food & Beverage). The trend of decreased Discretionary category sales began in 2022. In response, during 2022, we took actions and employed strategies to align inventories with sales trends. These actions, as well as improvements in the supply chain, have resulted in decreased inventory as of October 28, 2023 compared with October 29, 2022. These actions and improvements have also resulted in a reduction in costs related to managing elevated inventory levels and reduced our working capital investment.

Along with supply chain improvements, we have experienced a significant decrease in freight costs due to a decline in freight rates compared to 2022. We have also experienced lower digital fulfillment costs due to a decrease in digital sales and an increased mix of digital sales fulfilled through lower-cost same-day services.

Note: Gross margin rate is calculated as gross margin (sales less cost of sales) divided by sales. All other rates are calculated by dividing the applicable amount by total revenue.

Sales

Sales include all merchandise sales, net of expected returns, and our estimate of gift card breakage. We use comparable sales to evaluate the performance of our stores and digital channel sales by measuring the change in sales for a period over the comparable prior-year period of equivalent length. Comparable sales include all sales, except sales from stores open less than 13 months, digital acquisitions we have owned less than 13 months, stores that have been closed, and digital acquisitions that we no longer operate. Comparable sales measures vary across the retail industry. As a result, our comparable sales calculation is not necessarily comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. Digitally originated sales include all sales initiated through mobile applications and our websites. Our stores fulfill the majority of digitally originated sales, including shipment from stores to guests, store Order Pickup or Drive Up, and delivery via Shipt. Digitally originated sales may also be fulfilled through our distribution centers, our vendors, or other third parties.

Sales growth—from both comparable sales and new stores—represents an important driver of our long-term profitability. We expect that comparable sales growth will drive the majority of our total sales growth. We believe that our ability to successfully differentiate our guests’ shopping experience through a careful combination of merchandise assortment, price, convenience, guest experience, and other factors will, over the long-term, drive both increasing shopping frequency (number of transactions, or "traffic") and the amount spent each visit (average transaction amount).