Everything wrong at Target is great for TJX, which reported yet another quarter of Beat EPS, Beat Revs, Low-Ball Guidance quarter.
Shares for both are flat for the moment but, having just gotten off the TJX call I can share with all confidence that these companies are going in very different directions. TJX comps were higher in every category, making a mockery of the "consumer uncertainty" Target claims is holding back discretionary spending.
The quibbles with TJX' quarter (stable margins, no explosive growth, constant, steady improvement) are benefits to the stock. They aren't flashy. They simply kick-ass. On today's call TJX said they want every 10th hanger to "seem priced almost too low, if that makes sense".
At that point I threw my hands in the air and wept for not having owned this stock for the last 5 years. TJX doesn't have committees to speed learning or elaborate turnaround programs. They delight customers with Old School merchant magic.
