tepid is the new hot and target lukewarm fourthquarter results were enough to make it a relative standout amid a lackluster retail earnings season nevertheless there were genuinely encouraging signs from the bigbox retailer despite an uncertain outlook for the industry on tuesday target ticker tgt provided muted guidance for fiscal 2023 that fell short of consensus estimates echoing more cautious commentary from rivals including walmart wmt as consumers continue to struggle with higher prices still it could have been worse given the headwinds buffeting retail target simultaneously delivered upbeat per share profit and revenue forecasts while samestore sales surprised analysts by continuing to climb