Walmart outpaces Target in latest earnings reports [Video]

MINNEAPOLIS — Third-quarter earnings are in, and Minneapolis-based Target sales are down while Walmart sales are up. Experts say it mostly comes down to how the two stores are viewed in the eyes of consumers.

Comparable sales for Walmart rose 5.3% beating expectations. While Target, with a comparable sales growth of 0.3%, fell short. The company’s stock price also fell 21%. 

Akshay Rao is the General Mills Chair in Marketing at the Carlson School of Management. He said Walmart’s brand identity has been defined for decades. 

“They’re the low-price leader in the retail business,” he said. “Target is a value store, which is the trade-off between price and quality. So you get good quality at a reasonable price, as opposed to we’re the lowest price always.”

And more people did make their way into Targets last quarter. The retailer saw a bump in …