Target’s Profits Miss Estimates

Minneapolis, Softer sales of high-ticket merchandise dented discount retailer Target Corp.’s third-quarter results.

The retailer’s quarterly net earnings were $483 million, down from $506 million for the same period a year ago. Total revenue for the quarter rose 9.3% to $14.82 billion, from $13.57 billion in 2006. Same store sales increased 3.7%.

While the company blamed soft sales in higher margin categories, Target confirmed Monday that it expects sales across all stores open at least a year to earn low single-digit increases for November.