Target Corporation (TGT) is usually referred to the segments of consumer discretionary and consumer staples at the same time, as this North American chain of stores partially rely on people spending money that they don't need to spend. Yet it also lies near the thin facet to consumer staples, as Target's business strongly focused on low-priced urgent need goods, such as everyday food or hygiene supplies, along with electronics or clothing retailing of different price categories. This way of business positioning makes many experts even more willing to watch Target share price behaviour as a perfect health indicator of the broader market.

Target was riding high at the time of corona outbreaks, and then it was suffering on charts from May 2022 to October 2023, supposedly pointing at still elevated recession risks. Yet, it already recovered by more than 55% since mid-November, including the latest jump from $150 to nearly $175 per share during this week. This took place after the company's management gave several clear bullish highlights in its Q4 release on March 5, including highest EPS (equity per share) level in two years at $2.98, compared to $2.41 of consensus expectations and $1.89 one year ago, as well as its detailed strategic plan of driving long-term growth further, relying on paid loyalty programs which collected over a 100 million members to reignite repeating purchases, digital sales contribution, with same-day services accounting for 70% of that growth. This was the result of investing $100 million in hubs to speed up delivery about a year ago by building a larger network of sortation centres to lower costs to give a reason for soaring profitability on similar revenue numbers which added only 1.7% YoY, as comparable store sales declined by 5.4%. Online orders made up 21.3% of all Target sales. Partnership with providers like UPS, FedEx also helped a lot.

Target CEOs said they foresee only light pressure in the current quarter but continued climbing later in the year. High level of adaptation to changing consumer behaviour due to the lack of ready money in their pockets becomes common for other retailers including TJX and Walmart with AI-based technology features. Target CEO Brian Cornell also had an AI speech when he talked about ten additional supply chain facilities with further integrating machine learning and driving early adoption of generative AI to take not costly but same day fulfilment. TGT stock is not necessarily a top pick up on Wall Street, as it still could be volatile bearing the common stamp of the hard time troubles, like other retailers. RBC Capital increased its price target for Target Corporation to $191, as an example, which is not so far away from the current height. UBS did the same by reaffirming an Outperform rating on the stock, but with the same $191 potential as a target price. However, climbing Target or Walmart stocks are the mirror of the ongoing bullish efforts on Wall Street, being a useful kind of gauge for correcting or keeping investors' stance intact for the nearest period.