Pursuits

Target Gains After Sales Signal Comeback Bid Is Taking Hold

  • First-quarter earnings trounce Wall Street’s lowered estimates
  • Exclusive designs from Victoria Beckham helped lift sales

Target Corp. shopping carts sit inside a company store in Chicago.

Photographer: Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg
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Target Corp.’s turnaround plan gained some much-needed momentum as its latest sales beat estimates, bucking the trend of gloomy results from bellwether U.S. retailers.

The stock rose the most in six months after Target’s first-quarter sales decline was less severe than analysts projected. Earnings also sailed past Wall Street’s most optimistic estimates, helped by a sales uptick in March, and the company gave a brighter outlook for the full year.