The practice of companies using their own, non-GAAP accounting standards to spin earnings is nothing new. But did last week’s statement from Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) go too far? The Minneapolis-based retailer’s spokesman Eric Hausman was quoted as saying it will exclude from its accounting statements costs from a recent technology breach where 40 million of its customer credit and debit card accounts were hacked and customer’s private information stolen. Slowdown in Target’s traffic and credit card sales The key question is: are these really one-time charges? Is there any residual, lasting impact on the Target brand or customers’ sense of security…
Target Says Cyber Crime Doesn’t Count When It Reports Earnings
Mark Melin
Mark Melin is an alternative investment practitioner whose specialty is recognizing the impact of beta market environment on a technical trading strategy. A portfolio and industry consultant, wrote or edited three books including High Performance Managed Futures (Wiley 2010) and The Chicago Board of Trade’s Handbook of Futures and Options (McGraw-Hill 2008) and taught a course at Northwestern University's executive education program.