Target slumps after disappointing holiday season

A disappointing holiday shopping season at Target (TGT) led the big-box retailer to downgrade its quarterly earnings expectation, further highlighting the struggles of brick-and-mortar stores in the digital age.

Minneapolis-based Target warned Wednesday that its performance in November and December was "softer than expected."

Target shares were down almost 6% on the news in late morning trading.

Sales at Target stores open at least a year fell more than 3% during that two-month stretch, compared to the same time a year earlier. Online sales for that period grew more than 30%.

Total sales, which include the impact of the December 2015 sale of Target's pharmacy business to CVS, fell 4.9% during that period.

Target CEO Brian Cornell said in a statement that a strong Black Friday and digital sales growth weren't enough to overcome "early season sales softness and disappointing traffic and sales trends in our stores."

The company reported encouraging growth in toy sales, but sales of electronics, entertainment, food and essentials declined.

The company lowered its fourth-quarter comparable sales projection, previously pegged at a range of a decline of 1% to an increase of 1%, to a decrease of 1% to 1.5%.

The retailer also projected full-year 2016 earnings per share growth from continuing operations of $4.57 to $4.67, down from a previous range of $4.67 to $4.87.

Total transactions at stores open at least a year fell 1.7% in November and December. Digital transactions rose more than 30%.

"While we significantly outpaced the industry's digital performance, the costs associated with the accelerated mix shift between our stores and digital channels and a highly promotional competitive environment had a negative impact on our fourth quarter margins and earnings per share,” Cornell said.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.