What to watch

Target latest retailer in earnings firing line

Just like other retailers that have disappointed Wall Street this earnings season, analysts aren’t expecting struggling Target to excite investors when it reports quarterly profit before opening of trading Wednesday.

Target, whose business has been hurt by the online dominance of Amazon.com and moves by Walmart to beef up its online sales, push prices even lower and spruce up old stores, is forecast to report earnings of 91 cents per share — down nearly 30% from a year ago. Once hot and trendy, Target has hit a rough patch, which has been exacerbated by its slow move into online sales.

The first-quarter earnings sea- son has been strong for the S&P 500 stock index — which is on track for earnings growth of nearly 15% for the January-throughMarch quarter, its best pace since late 2011. But it has been a dismal season for profits for brick-andmortar retailers. Traditional department stores, such as Macy’s, have seen their stock prices slide recently after quarterly earnings and sales misses. The storyline of Americans shifting their shopping online and the emergence of Amazon.com as the dominant digital retailer isn’t likely to change when Target reports.

Bucking the trend Tuesday was home improvement retailer Home Depot, which saw it shares rise 0.6% after it beat analysts’ sales and profit estimates and said its U.S. sales rose 6%. Home Depot is benefiting from the housing recovery and, unlike Target, is less reliant on online sales.