Target Corp says third-quarter net income climbed 15 per cent, helped by a gain related to the pending sale of its credit-card business.
The company's outlook for the key holiday shopping season is above analyst expectations.
For the three months ended October 27, the chain says it earned $US637 million ($A617 million), or 96 cents per share, from $US555 million, or 82 cents per share, a year earlier.
Removing certain items, earnings were 90 cents per share. Analysts expected 78 cents per share, according to FactSet.
Revenue climbed 3 per cent to $US16.6 billion, but missed Wall Street's $US16.91 billion forecast.
Revenue at stores open at least a year, a key retail metric, rose 2.9 per cent, slower than last year's 4.3 per cent increase.
The stock was down 38 cents to $US61 in premarket trading on Thursday.
