Target Sales, Profit Fell in Q4 Following Massive Data Breach

Target's holiday quarter sales were bad, but not as bad as Wall Street expected, considering the massive data breach that occurred in December.

The discount chain announced Wednesday that sales for the fourth quarter declined by 5.3% from the same quarter a year earlier due in large part to the security breach

“During the first half of the fourth quarter, our guest-focused holiday merchandising and marketing plans drove better-than-expected sales," Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel said in a statement. "However, results softened meaningfully following our December announcement of a data breach."