Sam Boughedda

Investing.com — Target Corporation (NYSE 🙂 stock fell 2% on Monday after Cowen analyst Oliver Chen trimmed the price target on the stock to $265 from 300.

Chen maintained an outperform rating for the shares but he noted in a note that he was cautious due to data suggesting Target’s e-commerce traffic “meaningfully declined” during the fourth quarter. This indicates a downside risk to the estimates.

Chen stated that Target traffic on a 2-year basis has slowed sequentially 35 points to +19.6%, from +54.8% Q3, and supports other cautionary data points about the quarter. 

Cowen still favors Target over the long-term because they believe the retailer is better equipped to deal with inflationary problems over the next quarters. They also see benefits from Target’s more resilient consumers, broad-based market shares growth and a balanced mix of categories.

Chen stated to investors that Walmart Inc.’s traffic was “modestly declining”, while he also slashed his staff. Wayfair Inc After reviewing their web traffic, he saw that a price target for NYSE: was set. He reduced his fourth-quarter sales forecast by about 3%.