Target sees profit jump, tops Wall Street

MINNEAPOLIS Target Corp. (TGT) says third-quarter net income climbed 15 percent, helped by a gain related to the pending sale of its credit-card business.

The company's outlook for the key holiday shopping season is above analyst expectations.

For the three months ended Oct. 27, the chain says it earned $637 million, or 96 cents per share, from $555 million, or 82 cents per share, a year earlier.

Removing certain items, earnings were 90 cents per share. Analysts expected 78 cents per share, according to FactSet.

Revenue climbed 3 percent to $16.6 billion, but missed Wall Street's $16.91 billion forecast.

Revenue at stores open at least a year, a key retail metric, rose 2.9 percent, slower than last year's 4.3 percent increase.

The stock's down 38 cents to $61 in premarket trading Thursday.