Discounts and sales events have remained a significant sales driver, as consumers emerge from a more than two-year stretch of high inflation. It’s unclear how much those deals will cut into Target’s and other retailers’ profit margins, and whether sales will keep improving if promotions fade away.

Sales for the 2024 holiday shopping season turned out to be robust and better than expected, as easing inflation on merchandise drove shoppers to buy, according to the nation’s largest retail trade group.

Target raised guidance for a key metric in an update on its holiday sales after achieving records for both Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotional events.

Target raised its holiday-quarter comparable sales forecast on Thursday, buoyed by robust shopper demand for clothing, toys and beauty products during November and December, but profit margin concerns sent its shares down nearly 3%.

Target leaned in heavily toward promotions and sales during the holidays, a strategy that seems to have left it in the middle of the pack of retailers for the season. The Minneapolis-based retailer said Thursday its comparable sales rose about 2%,

Target reported strong holiday sales on Thursday, giving its stock a boost. The retail chain said sales increased 2% on a comparable basis in the last two months of 2024 from a year earlier, and overall sales rose 2.

The holidays brought more cheer than Target expected. Target said Thursday that same-store and digital sales in November and December rose 2% compared with the same period last year. Visits to stores rose 3% from last year and online sales increased by nearly 9%.