Target's profit falls 13 percent but tops Wall Street

NEW YORK Target Corp. (TGT) is reporting a 13 percent drop in second-quarter earnings as the discounter spent money on opening stores in Canada and dealt with cautious shoppers in the U.S.

The Minneapolis-based discounter is offering a muted full-year outlook.

Target says it earned $611 million, or 95 cents per share, in the quarter ended Aug. 3. That compares with $704 million, or $1.06 per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, the retailer earned $1.19 per share.

Total revenue reached $17.12 billion, up 2 percent from $16.45 billion in the quarter.

Analysts were expecting earnings of 96 cents per share on revenue of $17.28 billion, according to FactSet.

Revenue at stores open at least a year rose 1.2 percent, below the 1.9 percent analysts had expected.