Net income fell 16 percent to $418 million, or 66 cents a share, from $498 million, or 77 cents, a year earlier, the company said today in a statement. Analysts had projected 71 cents on average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Still, same-store sales didn't decline as much as predicted, signaling to investors that a comeback may be under way. The stock rose less than 1 percent today in New York trading.

Target is trying to regain its footing as it searches for a new chief executive officer, revamps its Canadian division and copes with the theft of 40 million payment-card numbers by hackers. The second-largest U.S. discount retailer appointed John Mulligan as interim CEO earlier this month and yesterday named Mark Schindele as the new top executive for Canada.

"It's too early to start playing the recovery theme of Target," Paul Trussell, an analyst for Deutsche Bank AG, said in a research note this week. "While the management change is a positive long-term, in our view, we still see more pain before gain."