Despite an early pre-market pop, Target Corp (NYSE:TGT) stock is down 7.1% to trade at $118.02 this morning, brushing off earnings per share (EPS) of $1.71 on $25.44 billion in revenue, both of which beat estimates. The retailer also hiked its full-year sales outlook, saying it saw broad-based strength across multiple sectors of the company.
Target stock has tacked on 30% in 2026, with help from new CEO Michael Fiddelke, who has concentrated on turnaround efforts. The ascending 30-day moving average has acted as support for much of this time frame, but the shares today dropped below that trendline.
Short interest has been retreating, down 17.7% over the past two reporting periods, now representing 3.4% of the stock's total available float. Analysts were heavily bearish heading into today, with 23 of the 35 in coverage sporting a "hold" or worse rating.
Options traders have also been more pessimistic than usual. This is per Target stock's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 1.10 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) which ranks higher than 94% of annual readings.
What's more, TGT's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) comes in at 14 out of 100. This suggests the equity has consistently realized lower volatility than its options have priced in -- a boon to premium sellers.
