About Brian Cornell
Brian Cornell, Chairman and CEO of Target, stated during the company’s November 19, 2025, third-quarter earnings call that it was his final earnings call as CEO, thanking participants for their engagement over the past 11 years. He described the current period as one of transformation for Target, citing shifting consumer demand, changing competitor dynamics, and broader macroeconomic pressures. Cornell said the company is “not waiting for conditions to improve” and is taking “bold, decisive steps” to reshape operations and reignite growth, with priorities centered on merchandising authority, guest experience, and technology.
Cornell noted that Target is not satisfied with its current results and is “relentless in our pursuit of returning to growth.” He announced plans to increase capital expenditures by approximately 25%, or $1 billion, versus 2025 to support investments in merchandising and the guest experience. When asked about the dividend, Cornell affirmed that it remains the company’s second capital priority after business investments, citing a consistent track record of support and a focus on predictability.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Brian Cornell's recent appearances.
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✨ AI-enhanced transcript with speaker attribution
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Host0:01
Last we checked, it's up by almost 4% this morning, a 3.9% gain. Joining us is Brian Cornell, Target's Chairman and CEO. Great to see you this morning. Thank you for taking the time. What happened?
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Brian Cornell0:18
Becky, good morning. We've had obviously a string of really solid results going all the way back to 2017, but this quarter may be for me one of the highlights. I think our team executed. Store comp of 18%, great digital performance, up 50%. Team effort. Great supply chain support, merchants, marketers, all coming together to support. The results I think speak for themselves.
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Host0:57
Brian, one of the things people have been watching, all of the stocks throughout the pandemic, stocks that did so well during the pandemic, people keep waiting to see when and if they fall out as things start to open back up. I think that's been one of the huge questions. Home Depot did say on its conference call that the trends seemed to be slowing in recent weeks. Is that the case with you? What have you seen in terms of traffic, in terms of shoppers, in terms of what people are willing to do as other stores open up and as people get out and start doing other things?
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Brian Cornell1:34
Becky, I think we're benefitting from investments we're making for years, investment in home experience and curated brand and fulfillment services that we offer. That combined with the investment in our team, we feel good standing here about our outlook not just for the second quarter and the full year. It's around the consumer, the economy, the state of the vaccine. We feel as if the consumer just continues to respond to our in-store experience, the ease and convenience of shopping with some of our same-day services like pickup, drive up, and ship. They connect with great home brands, national brands, and the service our team provides each and every day. We're feeling very confident about our position today, and I look at the proof point from Q1: we picked up another billion dollars in market share on top of $9 billion of share last year. To me, that's just a sign that we've connected with the consumer. We're building relevance and we're providing what they need and want throughout the year.
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Host2:50
Let's talk about that. Store comps up by 18%, same day sales up 90%. You look at things like the operating margins that come through with some of these things. First quarter operating income margin was 9.8% for the most recent quarter compared to 2.4% in 2020. Why was it so much more profitable? What happened over the space of that year to make it so much more incredibly profitable?
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Brian Cornell3:20
Becky, when you see the combination of stores up at 18%, which to me is a highlight, numbers in categories like apparel growing by over 60%, the combination of store traffic and category mix really benefited us. We're seeing resilient consumers. I think that's going to continue. So, a great combination of store traffic and store comps, discretionary categories like apparel, and same-day fulfillment services which now represent over half of our digital channel. We really like that. It translates.
