Target Corp. (NYSE:TGT)

Current Ratio Trends

The current ratio exhibits moderate fluctuations over the observed periods, with values generally ranging between 0.82 and 1.11. Initially, there is a slight improvement from 1.01 to 1.11, followed by a gradual decline and stabilization around 0.9 in the most recent periods. This suggests a diminished but stable short-term liquidity position, indicating that current assets remain comparable to current liabilities but have slightly weakened since early 2020.

Quick Ratio Trends

The quick ratio shows a notably lower value relative to the current ratio throughout all periods, indicating a smaller proportion of highly liquid assets (excluding inventory). It starts relatively higher, around 0.46, but experiences a sharp decrease towards values near 0.04 to 0.05 between late 2021 and early 2023. Although there is some recovery afterward, with ratios increasing up to approximately 0.23 in mid-2025, the quick ratio remains consistently low. This pattern reflects limited immediate liquidity and a declining capacity to cover current liabilities without relying on inventory sales.

Cash Ratio Trends

The cash ratio follows an almost identical pattern to the quick ratio, confirming minimal levels of cash and cash equivalents relative to current liabilities. It decreases substantially during late 2021 to early 2023, falling to values as low as 0.04. Subsequent minor improvements occur, with the ratio reaching up to 0.23 towards the most recent periods. This indicates the company’s cash reserves have been relatively constrained, which could have implications for meeting urgent obligations without converting other assets.

Overall Liquidity Insights

The comparative analysis of the three liquidity ratios highlights a consistently low level of highly liquid assets relative to liabilities. While the current ratio suggests the firm manages to meet short-term obligations by including inventory and other current assets, the sharp declines and low standing of the quick and cash ratios emphasize potential challenges if immediate liquidity is required. The gradual partial recovery after significant troughs may indicate management efforts to improve cash holdings, although the quick ratio remains below levels considered conservative for strong liquidity.

The analysis of the quarterly financial data reveals several noteworthy trends regarding the company's liquidity position over the observed periods.

Current Assets

Current assets exhibited an overall fluctuating pattern with periods of increase followed by declines. Starting at approximately 14.6 billion USD, current assets rose steadily to peak around 22.6 billion USD near late 2021. Subsequently, there was a noticeable decline through 2022 and early 2023, followed by another rise and drop pattern in 2024 and 2025. This volatility suggests variations in asset management or changes in operational conditions affecting short-term asset levels.

Current Liabilities

Current liabilities showed a general upward trajectory from the initial 14.4 billion USD to a higher range exceeding 23 billion USD around late 2021. Following this peak, liabilities experienced a reduction trend with fluctuations, eventually settling near 19.2 billion USD towards mid-2025. The increase up to 2021 may reflect increased short-term obligations or operational expansions, while the subsequent decline could indicate improved liability management or changes in creditor terms.

Current Ratio

The current ratio, reflecting liquidity by comparing current assets to current liabilities, started slightly above parity at 1.01 and increased to around 1.11 in mid-2020. This was followed by a gradual decline below 1.00 starting late 2021, reaching its lowest points near 0.82 to 0.83 in 2022 and mid-2023, signaling short-term liquidity pressures where liabilities exceeded assets. In the more recent periods of 2024 and 2025, the ratio showed slight improvement, approaching parity again at approximately 0.99, indicating a recovery in the company's ability to cover its short-term obligations.

In summary, the company experienced a peak in both current assets and liabilities around late 2021, followed by a period marked by declining current assets and a reduction in liabilities, adversely impacting the current ratio below the benchmark of 1.0 for extended periods. Recent trends suggest partial recovery in liquidity, but the persistent closeness of the ratio to unity indicates cautious monitoring is warranted to ensure short-term financial stability.

Analysis of Total Quick Assets

Total quick assets demonstrated significant fluctuations over the observed periods. Initially, there was a strong increase from 4566 million USD to a peak of 8511 million USD by January 2021. This was followed by a gradual decline, with notable low values around April to October 2022, where quick assets fell below 1200 million USD. After this trough, a recovery trend is observable, with values generally increasing to around 4341 million USD by August 2025. The long-term pattern indicates volatility with cycles of sharp increases followed by steep declines.

Analysis of Current Liabilities

Current liabilities generally exhibited an upward trend early on, rising from 14412 million USD in May 2020 to peak at 23783 million USD by October 2022. Following this peak, liabilities decreased notably towards 18991 million USD by August 2025, indicating a reduction in short-term obligations over the latter periods. Overall, current liabilities remained substantially higher than quick assets throughout the timeline, often by a wide margin.

Quick Ratio Trends

The quick ratio consistently remained below 1 throughout the entire period, reflecting a liquidity position where quick assets were insufficient to cover current liabilities directly. Initially, the quick ratio showed moderately higher values, reaching around 0.46 at times in 2020 and early 2021. Subsequently, a sharp decline occurred, reaching very low levels of around 0.04 to 0.05 in mid to late 2022, suggesting critical liquidity constraints during that period. Following this, a gradual and partial recovery took place, with the ratio improving to roughly 0.23 by August 2025, but still remaining well below 0.5. This trend highlights ongoing challenges in maintaining liquid asset levels adequate to meet current liabilities.

Overall Liquidity Position

The interplay between fluctuating total quick assets and generally high current liabilities resulted in persistently low quick ratios, underlining potential liquidity risks. The periods of lowest liquidity coincide with troughs in quick assets and peaks in current liabilities, notably in 2022. The subsequent recovery in quick assets combined with decreasing current liabilities suggests some improvement in liquidity posture towards the end of the observed timeframe, yet the quick ratio’s remaining low level indicates continued vulnerability.

Key Insights

The data reflect significant volatility in liquid asset levels and current obligations, leading to a strained short-term liquidity position over multiple quarters. Despite some recovery signals after mid-2022, quick assets remain insufficient to ensure strong liquidity coverage of current liabilities. This indicates a need for continued attention to liquidity management and possibly strengthening the asset base or reducing liabilities to improve financial flexibility.

Total Cash Assets

The total cash assets experienced notable fluctuations throughout the observed periods. Initial values showed a rising trend from 4,566 million USD in early May 2020 to a peak of 8,511 million USD in late January 2021. Subsequently, there was a decline through mid-2021 and a significant drop starting April 2022, reaching a low around 954 million USD in October 2022. Following this low, the cash assets displayed a recovery trend, rising again to 4,341 million USD by early August 2025. This pattern indicates periods of both accumulation and depletion of cash reserves, with a major trough occurring in late 2022.

Current Liabilities

Current liabilities generally increased from 14,412 million USD in early May 2020, reaching a peak above 23,351 million USD in late October 2021. After this peak, they showed some decline but remained elevated with fluctuations, staying mostly within a 19,000 to 22,000 million USD range in the subsequent years. By August 2025, current liabilities had decreased moderately to 19,223 million USD. The elevated levels for most of the periods indicate sustained obligations, with some efforts toward liability management or reduction in later years.

Cash Ratio

The cash ratio reflected the relationship between liquid cash assets and current liabilities and followed a decreasing trend overall. It began at 0.32 in May 2020, increasing slightly through early 2021 to 0.42, before starting a decline toward extremely low levels around 0.04 in October 2022. Thereafter, it showed modest improvement, reaching 0.23 by August 2025. These values indicate that the company's liquid cash relative to its short-term liabilities weakened notably after 2021, hitting a significant low in late 2022, but showed signs of slow recovery in subsequent periods.

Summary of Trends and Insights

The cash assets and cash ratio together reveal periods of high liquidity in the first half of the timeline, followed by a sharp reduction of liquid resources relative to liabilities in 2022. This reduction points to potentially increased operational demands or changes in cash management strategy. Meanwhile, current liabilities peaked before this drop in cash assets, suggesting temporary heightened financial obligations. The gradual recovery in cash assets and cash ratio afterward might suggest efforts to rebuild liquidity buffers. However, the cash ratio remaining below initial high levels indicates that the company maintains a more conservative liquid asset position relative to liabilities than it did at the outset of the period.