NEW YORK, December 29, 2025, 11:22 ET — Regular session
- Target down about 0.8% in late morning trading, lagging the broader retail ETF
- Walmart and Dollar General edge higher while the broader market dips
- Investors watch Fed minutes Tuesday and signs Target’s turnaround is gaining traction
Target shares slipped on Monday, underperforming the retail sector as Wall Street opened the final, holiday-shortened trading week of 2025 on a softer note.
The move matters now because Target is heading into a leadership handoff on Feb. 1, when chief operating officer Michael Fiddelke is set to take over as chief executive. Investors are watching whether the chain can stabilize sales and margins after a string of weak quarters.
Target has been pushing to rebuild its edge in higher-margin discretionary categories such as apparel while keeping prices competitive for budget-conscious shoppers. A redesigned SoHo store in New York is part of that push, with Fiddelke calling it “a punctuation point” for Target’s bid to lead on style and design, Business Insider reported. Business Insider
Target was down about 0.8% at $98.72 by 11:22 a.m. ET. The stock traded between $98.42 and $100.20 in early Monday action.
The broader S&P 500 was lower, and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF also slipped. Exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, are baskets of securities that trade like stocks.
Among big-box and discount peers, Walmart rose about 0.5% and Dollar General gained about 0.7%, while Costco slipped about 0.4%.
Losses in heavyweight technology names weighed on the market early Monday, Reuters reported, with trading expected to stay light in the holiday-affected week. U.S. markets are closed Thursday for New Year’s Day.
Target’s SoHo location, previously geared toward quick-stop essentials, now carries apparel and features interactive displays, Business Insider said. The company opened the revamped store at 600 Broadway this month as a concept meant to test more experiential merchandising.
The retailer has leaned on price cuts and store and digital investments to try to pull shoppers back. In November, Target reported a bigger-than-expected drop in third-quarter comparable sales — a metric that includes online revenue and sales at stores open at least 13 months.
Target also said it planned to invest about $1 billion more in 2026 on new stores, remodels and improvements to its digital business, and reaffirmed a forecast for low-single-digit sales declines for the holiday quarter.
Investors now turn to readouts on consumer demand and any updates from retailers on holiday results, along with Target’s own guidance on sales mix and gross margin. Target’s heavier exposure to discretionary categories has been a headwind when shoppers pull back on non-essentials.
Markets will also parse minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December meeting due Tuesday, after rate-cut expectations helped lift equities into year-end. For consumer stocks such as Target, lower-rate hopes can support sentiment, but traders have largely focused on execution and traffic trends.
On the chart, traders have watched the $100 level as a near-term line after the stock briefly topped it Monday before slipping back. The next major company catalyst is the next earnings report, which data providers expect in early March, though Target has not announced a date.
