Target's earnings disappointment coverage also misses expectations

TheStreet.com media critic Marek Fuchs writes Wednesday that coverage of retailer Target’s disappointing earnings also missed expectations because they failed to take into account that the Minnesota-based company had already lowered its expectations — and still missed the new projections.

Fuchs wrote, “Unfortunately for investors, the business media almost always simply compares results with consensus expectations the moment the earnings are reported.

“Those negative things Target said about itself a matter of weeks ago? Already forgotten. As is the bleak forecast it gave in September. But when even the top operators can’t get a handle at how quickly business is turning sour –well, that’s bad, and it should define the take on the quarter.

“But forget about defining. In its article ‘Target Posts Lower Profit, Sees Lackluster Results,’ The Wall Street Journal failed to even mention that Target’s disappointing results were the second beat of disappointment for the cheap-chic chain.

“The article talks about the surface results, a stock buyback, the wanting comparison with Wal-Mart and the potential fate of the credit-card unit. But we hear nothing about how the company already said that the quarter was looking grim. And the results were grimmer still.”

Read more here.