Target Lost $13 Billion In Three Months As Sane Americans Pushed Back

The verdict is in, and you'll never believe it: sane Americans did NOT appreciate Target targeting their kids.

Most people won't be shocked by reading that, but believe me, some will be. I hope to never meet them.

The second quarter just wrapped up for the 2024 fiscal year, meaning it's time to dive in and see who crushed it ... and who got crushed.

Target, as you can probably guess by now, falls into the latter category.

"Target was our worst performer in the quarter, primarily driven by customers and public reaction to in-store promotions for the month of June," Smead Capital Management wrote in a letter to investors this week.

"We believe management has listened to its core customers, made the necessary changes, and avoided structural damage to the brand."

Target joined Bud Light as the Q2 duds

While that second part is debatable -- have you been inside a Target since May? -- the first part is not.

Shares of Target are down over 20% in the last 52 weeks, including a staggering decline over the past three months. OutKick's written about it before, but now that the numbers are official, here's a quick recap.

Look away, Target ...

The retail giant lost billions — nearly $9 billion in one week, to be exact — when the controversy began in May. A day before the pride section posts began to go viral, the stock closed at $160.96 a share, giving Target a market capitalization of $74.3 billion.

The following week, shares were trading off 1% at $141.76 — bringing that above number down to $65.3 billion, which was a staggering 12% drop.

In June, the company shed nearly $15 billion. Now, just over two days into August, Target’s stock closed Wednesday at just over $133 a share.

For you mathematically-challenged folks at home, Google tells me the company’s stock is now down nearly 19% in three months.

According to Market Share, that once $74 billion market cap is now down to $61 billion.

Everyone keep up with that? Good.

Bottom line? It was a second quarter bloodbath for Target, which will likely join Bud Light in marketing classes across America this fall as examples of what NOT to do moving forward.