NEW YORK, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Target Corp (TGT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Tuesday reported a lower quarterly profit after its shoppers spurned purchases of higher-margin merchandise like clothes in favor of necessities, like food and health-care items.
Target, the No. 2 U.S. discount retailer behind Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), said profit fell to $1.028 billion, or $1.23 per share for its fiscal fourth quarter ended Feb. 2, from $1.119 billion, or $1.29 per share, a year earlier.
Target's results come a week after Wal-Mart posted a better-than-expected 4 percent rise in its fourth-quarter earnings, as cash-strapped shoppers headed to its U.S. stores in search of cheaper groceries.
Sales at Target had been outpacing those at Wal-Mart, but they have faltered in recent months as its shoppers, worried about the weakening U.S. economy, pull back on purchases of discretionary items like clothes and jewelry.
Target had warned that its fourth-quarter earnings per share would decline compared with a year earlier. (Reporting by Nicole Maestri, editing by Dave Zimmerman)
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