It didn’t have to be this way. At the start of his tenure, Cornell, who the company announced yesterday will step down as CEO on February 1, was an outsider unafraid to move fast and break things. He had been CEO of a big PepsiCo unit, Michaels Stores, and Sam’s Club before that.

In 2025, Walmart has been a clear outperformer, up 12%, while Target has slumped 22%. Technicians tend not to believe too much in mean reversion, because once trends are in motion, they are more likely to remain in place rather than reverse. Expect this dynamic to continue.

The world’s biggest retailer posted quarterly revenue of $177.4 billion — a hefty 4.8% jump that sailed past Wall Street’s $175.9 billion target.

Now, investors have another wrinkle to consider. On Wednesday, Target replaced its CEO of 11 years, Brian Cornell — a shakeup that was widely expected and likely overdue. Taking his place to steer the brand out of its malaise is … Cornell’s right-hand man.

The gush of second quarter earnings reports is beginning to slow to a trickle, and with most of the reports in, the results have been mostly positive.

Shares of Walmart are trading more than 5% lower following the world’s largest retailer’s quarterly earnings release. The results, announced this morning, triggered a selloff that pushed the stock below key technical support levels.

Target needs a hard reset on strategy, Wall Street believes. And new CEO Michael Fiddelke may not be the person to do it.

Target, which has about 1,980 U.S. stores, has been the focus of consumer boycotts since late January, when it joined rival Walmart and a number of other prominent American brands in scaling back corporate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

TheStreet. Over the past few months, retailers across the country have been battling a growing threat. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs (taxes companies pay to import goods from overseas) on multiple countries to encourage more manufacturing in the U.