Kohl's Corporation vs Target Corporation: Strategic Comparison

This in-depth comparison examines Kohl's Corporation and Target Corporation across revenue, market value, business model, competitive positioning, and long-term growth strategy. Whether you are researching Kohl's Corporation on its own, evaluating Target Corporation, or weighing the two companies side by side, the breakdown below highlights where each company leads and where the gap between Kohl's Corporation and Target Corporation is widest.

On the headline numbers, annual revenue is $15.5B (FY2025) for Kohl's Corporation and $104.8B (FY2025) for Target Corporation, while their respective market capitalizations stand at $2.0B and N/A. Both Kohl's Corporation and Target Corporation are headquartered in United States. Their local markets and applicable rules may still differ.

Kohl's Corporation: Kohl's Corporation (NYSE: KSS) is headquartered in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. As of January 31, 2026 it ran 1,153 stores in 49 states, plus Kohls.com, and had an average of about 84,000 associates in FY2025. It became the largest U.S. department store chain by store count by building in suburban strip centers instead of malls. Its pitch is national brands at promotional prices. Since 2021 it has added Sephora shop-in-shops and Babies 'R' Us sections to bring in new shoppers. It has also gone through four CEO changes since 2022 while sales kept falling.

Target Corporation: Target is a retailer whose value comes from making mass retail feel curated. The business is strongest when stores, digital channels, owned brands and fulfillment services reinforce one another. The company is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Kohl's Corporation and Target Corporation pursue distinct approaches to generating revenue, and understanding how each company operates is the foundation of any fair comparison between Kohl's Corporation and Target Corporation.

Kohl's Corporation business model: Kohl's makes money mainly by selling merchandise. In FY2025 net sales were $14.8 billion of $15.5 billion total revenue. It runs a high-low promotional model: frequent percent-off coupons, Kohl's Cash rewards and clearance events bring shoppers back. Its mix combines national brands such as Nike and Levi's with higher-margin private labels like Sonoma Goods for Life, Croft & Barrow and Apt. 9. The rest of revenue, $668 million of 'other revenue' in FY2025, comes mostly from Kohl's share of profits on the Kohl's Card, whose accounts are owned by Capital One. Smaller pieces are advertising and gift-card breakage. Stores also serve as pickup and ship-from-store points for Kohls.com.

Target Corporation business model: Target runs a general-merchandise, big-box retail model that pairs low-margin essentials (groceries, household basics) to drive store traffic with higher-margin discretionary categories (apparel, home decor, and private-label brands) to drive profit -- the classic 'basket size' strategy. Owned and exclusive brands make up a large share of sales and carry better margins than national brands, a strategy Target has leaned on more heavily to compete with Walmart's scale and Amazon's convenience. Digital and same-day fulfillment, built around the 2017 Shipt (about $550 million) and Grand Junction acquisitions, let Target use its stores as fulfillment hubs -- a model that became central to growth during the pandemic and remains core to its omnichannel strategy today. FY2025 revenue was $104.780 billion, continuing a decline from $107.412 billion in fiscal 2023, as the company worked through a sales and stock slump serious enough to trigger a CEO change; FY2026 has shown a rebound, with Q1 net sales up 6.7% and Q2 net sales up 5.3%. Non-merchandise revenue, which includes Roundel advertising, Target Circle 360 membership fees and the Target+ marketplace, grew more than 20% in Q2 FY2026, adding higher-margin income on top of merchandise sales.

The durability of a company's moat often decides long-term winners. Here is how the competitive advantages of Kohl's Corporation stack up against those of Target Corporation.

Kohl's Corporation competitive advantage: Most Kohl's stores are single-level boxes in strip and power centers, not in enclosed malls. Shoppers can park at the door, and the stores have avoided much of the mall traffic collapse that hurt Sears and JCPenney. Two other assets are hard to copy. One is the Sephora at Kohl's beauty shops, now in more than 1,100 stores. The other is a card-and-rewards loop, Kohl's Card plus Kohl's Cash, that ties promotions to repeat visits.

Target Corporation competitive advantage: Target's advantage is the mix of curated merchandise, owned brands, convenient stores, same-day fulfillment and a brand position between discount utility and design-led retail.

Future prospects matter as much as current results. The growth strategies below explain how Kohl's Corporation and Target Corporation each plan to expand from here.

Kohl's Corporation growth strategy: Bender's plan is narrower than earlier turnarounds. It leans on value pricing and proprietary brands, a return of coupons the core customer likes, and categories that are growing such as Sephora beauty, toys, home and impulse gifting. It also relies on lower inventory and expenses. In Q2 2026, management said proprietary brands, Kohl's Card sales, home, toys and digital all improved. Kohl's is also restarting share repurchases now that its balance sheet is stronger.

Target Corporation growth strategy: Target is focusing on merchandising authority, guest experience, technology acceleration, team and community strength, stores-as-hubs, same-day fulfillment, retail media and owned-brand renewal.

A closer look at the financial trajectory of Kohl's Corporation and Target Corporation rounds out the comparison.

Kohl's Corporation: Kohl's revenue fell from a peak of about $20.2 billion in FY2018 to $15.5 billion in FY2025. Over that time, management cut inventory and reduced the dividend to $0.125 per quarter in 2025. It also refinanced debt at higher rates, including $360 million of 10.000% secured notes due 2030. FY2025 net income was $272 million, which included a $129 million interchange-lawsuit settlement gain. Results improved in 2026. In Q2 2026, ended August 1, net sales fell 0.9% to $3.3 billion, gross margin rose 305 basis points to 43.0%, and net income was $151 million ($1.28 per share). That quarter's margin got a boost from about $100 million of tariff refunds. Kohl's raised its FY2026 adjusted EPS outlook to $1.80-$2.40 and said it would restart share buybacks. Kohl's Corporation is a major American department store retail chain, sustaining a market valuation typically exceeding $3 billion amidst a shifting retail landscape.

Target Corporation: Target's net sales fell from $109.120 billion in fiscal 2022 to $104.780 billion in fiscal 2025, while net earnings fell from $4.091 billion in fiscal 2024 to $3.705 billion in fiscal 2025. FY2025 operating income was $5.117 billion, a 4.9% margin; operating cash flow was $6.562 billion and capital expenditures were $3.727 billion. These are annual figures for the year ended January 31, 2026. The separate Q2 FY2026 release reports $26.539 billion of quarterly net sales, up 5.3%, with comparable sales up 3.8%. GAAP diluted EPS was $4.11, including $1.65 per share from $994 million of pretax tariff refunds. Target said EPS rose about 20% excluding those refunds. Its August outlook for FY2026 called for net-sales growth around 5% and EPS of $9.90 to $10.90, including the Q2 refund benefit; guidance is a company forecast, not a completed-year result.