Target shares head up and up

Sales have been hard to come by of late for Target, especially in discretionary categories, but investors brushed aside those concerns last week and rewarded the company for generating profits that didn’t decline as much as feared. Shares of Target surged nearly $3 to close at $44.32 on Tuesday, after the company released second quarter earnings per share that handily exceeded analysts’ estimates. Last Tuesday, Target said its profits declined 6.3% to $594 million, or 79 cents per share, from $634 million, or 82 cents per share. The 79-cents-per-share figure was far better than the 66-cents-per-share analysts expected.

The stock’s upward momentum continued throughout the week as shares closed higher every day and ended the week at $45.66, nearly $4.36 higher than where they began the week at $41.30 for a nearly 11% gain. That momentum may slowed slightly on Monday, as the stock closed at $45.17.