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Signal Ledger valuation · TGT

Target Corp

What the shares are worth today on our research (cited consensus, company plans and peers, since management sets no usable targets, plus our judgment calls): every line valued at the end of FY2030, net debt rolled forward, then discounted back to Aug 1, 2026.

Signal Ledger valuation$138.99−12% vs $158.11Includes 1 judgment call of ours · see them ↓
Business value at FY2030
$80B
FY2030 revenue
$127B
FY2030 EPS · P/E
$13.54 · 12×
Discount rate (WACC · equity)
7.87% · 8.84%

How this is built. Management sets no usable targets, so each business is built from cited consensus, company plans and peers, with the judgment calls listed below. Each input below shows its basis: consensus, company plan, peer or rule.

Researched Oct 23, 2026 from SEC filing 0000027419-26-000042 · price $158.11 at research time · Valuation methodology

Latest quarter in this research: Q2 FY2026

Reported Aug 19, 2026 for the quarter to Aug 1, 2026 (company release ↗). This valuation already reflects these results (researched Oct 23, 2026).

Revenue$26.5B
Operating income$2.56B9.6% margin
Net income$1.88B
Diluted EPS$4.11
SegmentRevenuevs a year agoOperating incomeMargin
Target retail$26.5B+5%$2.56B9.6%
  • Comparable sales +3.8%, traffic +3.6%.
  • $0.994B tariff refunds contributed $1.65 EPS; excluded from recurring terminal economics.
  • FY2026 net sales guidance +5%, operating margin about 6% including refunds.

What each business is worth

BusinessModelFY2030 revenueValue todayPer share2030 multipleValue from beyond FY2030
Target retailMargin$127B$73B$160.8810.5× EBIT67%
All businesses$127B$73B$160.88

Our judgment calls

Where the evidence leaves room for judgment, we make the call ourselves and say why (Signal Ledger, Oct 22, 2026). This call is part of the valuation above; every other input follows the research file and the published rules.

AssumptionOur callWhy
Target retail: FY2030 operating margin6.0%We use 6.0%, Target's own goal, instead of the 8.88% the rule alone would give. In February 2023 Target said it expects to return to and ultimately exceed a 6% operating margin rate (https://corporate.target.com/press/release/2023/02/target-corporation-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full); it has not done so since. The August 19, 2026 release guides to about 6% for FY2026 only because it includes roughly 90 basis points of one-time tariff refunds; the recurring rate is about 5.1% (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/27419/000002741926000034/a2026q2ex-99.htm). Reaching 6% by FY2030 assumes management's goal is delivered, not exceeded; adding 4 points to a 4.9% start would put Target above its pandemic-peak margin.

From 2030 back to today

  1. Enterprise value at end of FY2030$80B
  2. Less net debt at FY2030$4.7B
  3. Equity value at FY2030$75B
  4. ÷ (1 + 8.84%)^3.5 years at the cost of equity$56B
  5. + dividends paid on the way, discounted$6.3B

This reconciliation checks the published Signal Ledger valuation against the net-debt path. The difference is 1.5%, inside our 5% tolerance.

From businesses to one share

  1. All businesses, valued today$73B
  2. − borrowings$15B
  3. − finance leases$0B
  4. + cash and short-term investments$5.4B
  5. ÷ diluted shares0.454B
  6. Signal Ledger valuation$138.99

Year by year to FY2030

Fiscal yearRevenueEBITDACapexFree cash flowNet debt at year end
FY2027$110B$9.9B$5.2B$3.5B$9.4B
FY2028$116B$10B$5.5B$3.7B$8.1B
FY2029$121B$11B$5.8B$3.9B$6.5B
FY2030$127B$11B$6.1B$4.1B$4.7B

What must be true

  • Target retail grows revenue from $110.0B in FY2027 to $127.4B in FY2030 (1.2×).
  • Target retail holds its EBIT margin at 6.0%.
  • The company spends $22.6B of capital expenditure through FY2030.
  • Net debt peaks at $9.9B in FY2026 and stays financeable.

What the price implies

To reach $158.11 at our discount rate, Target Corp would need about $143.6B of FY2030 sales (growth of about 8.2% a year from FY2026) with 6.0% GAAP EBIT margin — versus $127.4B and 6.0% GAAP EBIT margin in our research.

At the research price of $158.11 (2026-10-23), the price asks more than our assumptions overall. These are operating requirements at that price, not additional valuations or forecasts.

If sales and margins changed together

Each row matches the same research price at our unchanged discount rate, by scaling every operating line's margin by one common factor. Sales cover margin and capacity lines only; other valuation lines stay fixed. Margins are revenue-weighted within each metric, before separately modeled corporate costs and eliminations. The conclusion uses the row at our research margins when sales alone can match the price, otherwise the solved row needing the least sales growth; this is a trade-off between growth and profitability, not a forecast.

FY2030 sales factorFY2030 salesFY2026–30 CAGRRequired FY2030 marginRequirement
1.13×At research margins$143.6B8.2%
6.0% GAAP EBIT
Within margin guardrails
1.50×$191B16.2%
5.1% GAAP EBIT
Within margin guardrails
2.00×$254.7B24.9%
4.4% GAAP EBIT
Within margin guardrails
3.00×$382.1B38.2%
3.6% GAAP EBIT
Within margin guardrails

CAGR uses $104.8B of same-scope FY2026 sales from the published model or its sourced research base, over four fiscal years. “Within margin guardrails” checks numeric limits only, not commercial plausibility. Each line and year must stay at or below 50.0% GAAP EBIT and 100% EBITDA, or our research margin where that is higher; capacity EBIT uses the engine's equipment depreciation. Unsolved margins are not extrapolated.

Implied discount rate
7.3%

The WACC that makes model value equal the price, shifting WACC and cost of equity by the same amount. Model: 7.9% WACC · 8.8% cost of equity.

All-business FY2030 sales factor
1.13×

FY2030 revenue would need to reach $143.6B (model: $127.4B) across the margin and capacity businesses. FY1 stays fixed; the sales change ramps to FY2030 and stays at that factor thereafter.

If only one business changed

Businesses with margin or capacity revenue paths, ordered by value today. Revenue and margin are separate alternatives; these requirements are not added together.

Target retail

Revenue alone
FY2030 revenue would need to reach $142.9B (model: $127.4B).
Margin alone

FY2030 EBIT margin would need to reach 6.5% (model: 6.0%).

Mechanical requirements, not forecasts. The separate sales-only and single-business factors are searched from 0.1× to 6×; an unsolved comparison means this business alone cannot get there within those bounds. Single-business revenue changes apply from FY2 onward; margin changes scale the full EBIT or EBITDA margin path. Mixed groups show revenue-weighted EBIT and EBITDA margins separately. Requirements above 100% are not feasible margins. Joint rows instead search non-negative uniform margin factors only up to the EBIT/EBITDA guardrails; the entire margin path scales, including post-FY2030 convergence. Sales and margins change together only in that table. The rate search runs from the largest terminal growth rate plus 0.5 percentage points to 30% WACC.

The discount rate

Cost of equity
8.84%

r_f 3.87% (5-year average 10-year Treasury yield 3.87% (spot 5.13% on 2026-10-21)) + β 0.99 after Blume adjustment × 5%, rounded to 0.01% (1bp)

WACC
7.87%

methodology §4.5: market-weighted WACC, not rounded

10-year Treasury · model / spot
3.87% · 5.13%

The model uses the recorded 5-year average Treasury yield. The spot yield is shown for context.

Every input, with its source

Show 13 inputs · reported, guidance and rule-based
InputValueBasisWhy
Revenue FY2027Target retail$110.0BGuidancehold moderate (methodology §4.2), growth 5.0% sec.gov ↗
Revenue FY2030Target retail$127.4BGuidancehold moderate (methodology §4.2), growth 5.0% sec.gov ↗
EBIT margin FY2030Target retail6.0%RuleSignal Ledger judgment: We use 6.0%, Target's own goal, instead of the 8.88% the rule alone would give. In February 2023 Target said it expects to return to and ultimately exceed a 6% operating margin rate (https://corporate.target.com/press/release/2023/02/target-corporation-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full); it has not done so since. The August 19, 2026 release guides to about 6% for FY2026 only because it includes roughly 90 basis points of one-time tariff refunds; the recurring rate is about 5.1% (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/27419/000002741926000034/a2026q2ex-99.htm). Reaching 6% by FY2030 assumes management's goal is delivered, not exceeded; adding 4 points to a 4.9% start would put Target above its pandemic-peak margin. Our judgment calls · Read methodology ↗
Maintenance capexTarget retail4.8%GuidanceFY2026 planned capital investment approximately $5B; flat capital intensity thereafter is an assumption, not a long-range capex target. corporate.target.com ↗
Terminal growthTarget retail2.0%Rulemethodology §4.2 terminal growth for a mature line Valuation methodology §4.2 · Read methodology ↗
WACCDiscount rates7.87%Rulemethodology §4.5: market-weighted WACC, not rounded FRED DGS10 2021-10-20..2026-10-21
Cost of equityDiscount rates8.84%Ruler_f 3.87% (5-year average 10-year Treasury yield 3.87% (spot 5.13% on 2026-10-21)) + β 0.99 after Blume adjustment × 5%, rounded to 0.01% (1bp) 60 monthly returns vs SPY, 2021-09..2026-09 (adjusted closes)
Tax rateDiscount rates16.7%ReportedMethodology 4.5: simple mean of latest three complete-year net cash taxes / pretax income: 1.091/4.767, 1.055/5.261, 0.374/5.297. Low FY2023 cash taxes are retained, not replaced with GAAP ETR. sec.gov ↗
Cash and short-term investmentsBalance sheet$5.4BReportedcash, cash equivalents and short-term investments us-gaap:CashCashEquivalentsAndShortTermInvestments · 0000027419-26-000042 (filed 2026-08-28)
BorrowingsBalance sheet$15.4BReportedborrowings due within a year plus long-term borrowings us-gaap:LongTermDebtAndCapitalLeaseObligationsCurrent · 0000027419-26-000042 + us-gaap:LongTermDebtAndCapitalLeaseObligations · 0000027419-26-000042
Finance leasesBalance sheet$0.0BReportedfinance leases not separately tagged; retained inside combined debt, with no additional lease deduction balance sheet 2026-08-01
SharesBalance sheet0.454BReportedshares outstanding as of 2026-08-21 cover page of 10-Q 0000027419-26-000042
Dividends per yearShareholders$2.1BReportedFY2025 Q3/Q4 $1.14 each plus FY2026 Q1 $1.14 and Q2 $1.16. × 0.454B shares sec.gov ↗

Research notes

  • share-count comparison: 0.4566B quarter 2026-05-03..2026-08-01 · 0000027419-26-000042; point-in-time denominator retained
  • cost of equity 8.84% (β 0.99 after Blume adjustment), WACC 7.9%

Signal Ledger research built from cited consensus, company plans and peer economics, with our stated judgment calls, because management sets no usable targets — not a forecast and not investment advice. The research desk (GPT-6.1 (Codex)) gathers filings, guidance and targets; deterministic code applies the samepublished rules to every company and checks the result. Inputs may contain errors; follow the source links before relying on them. Read our valuation methodology →