Content about Conference Call

Minneapolis -- Target Corp. reported Wednesday a profit of $961 million for the fourth quarter, down from $981 million in the year-ago period. The profit slip reflected expenses related to its Canadian market entry along with a spending slowdown during the holiday period. It was Target's weakest holiday season performance since 2008. But its adjusted results beat analysts' estimates and it forecast first-quarter earnings above Wall Street's view.

New York -- J.C. Penney executives laid out further details of their strategy going forward during the chain’s quarterly conference call with investors. The call followed the release of J.C. Penney’s first quarter results, when it reported a worse-then-expected loss of $163 million, and a 19% drop in same-store sales.

J.C. Penney said it would launch a new private label apparel brand, jcp, for both men and women. The brand is set to debut in August.

Philadelphia -- Urban Outfitters Inc. reported Monday that profit for the fourth quarter fell to $39.3 million, from $75.2 million a year earlier. Sales rose 9% to $730.6 million, missing Wall Street’s expected $740 million in revenue.

The operator of Anthropologie, Free People and Urban Outfitters stores said heavy discounting over the holidays took a big toll on margins; in fact, margins have declined for at least five quarters as the retailer has made major markdowns to clear out slow-moving merchandise.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings Corp. reported Thursday a loss of $2.4 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with a profit of $374 million in the year-ago period. And in a move long anticipated by some analysts, the chain also announced plans to tap into its massive real estate holdings to help make up for its faltering retail performance.

Revenue for the quarter slipped 4% to $12.5 billion, from $13 billion. Same-store sales fell 4.1% during the quarter at Sears and 2.7% at Kmart.

Austin, Texas -- Whole Foods Market Inc. reported Wednesday that profit for the first quarter rose a better-than-expected 33% to $118.3 million amid increased customer visits and higher prices on select items. On a follow-up conference call with analysts, the chain revealed it has 69 new stores in development, or 2.4 million square feet, in development.

New York City -- John Donahoe, president and CEO of eBay, during a Jan. 18 earnings call expanded on the test of PayPal with retailer Home Depot.

A division of eBay, PayPal is experimenting with extending its on-line payment system to point-of-sale retail locations. In the fourth quarter of 2011, it chose Home Depot as its first national retailer for a limited test at five stores. PayPal plans to widen the pilot to 51 stores in the Bay Area by the end of the month, Donahoe said.

New York City -- Rite Aid has started the rollout of its new wellness store format, with 40 stores completed as of the end of the second quarter (Aug. 27, 2011). It expects to complete a total of some 300 wellness remodels in its current fiscal year, management said during a conference call with investors.

New York City -- Despite low consumer confidence, the volatile economy and a hurricane, many retailers reported better-than-expected sales in August. Hurricane Irene appeared to put a dent in the results of some retailers on the East Coast, but the storm did not appear to do as serious damage as some expected.

Total retail sales rose 4.4%, just missing the 4.6% rise that Wall Street analysts had expected, according to Thomson Reuters. Of the 19 out of the 25 retailers that Thomson Reuters tracks, 11 beat expectations.

Seattle -- Nordstrom reported Thursday that net income for its second quarter rose 20% to $175 million, compared with $146 million in the year earlier period.

Revenue surged 12.4% to $2.72 billion, benefited by strong promotions and matching Wall Street estimates. Same-store sales rose a solid 7.3%. The department store retailer has raised its profit outlook for the full year.

Its outlet concept Nordstrom Rack saw net sales increase 23.4% to $92 million, and same-store sales rose 4.8%.

Austin -- Whole Foods Market co-CEO Walter Robb told investors at a Jefferies Global Consumer Conference that the now-300-store chain is expected to grow to 1,000 stores in the United States.

The organic grocer sees opportunity in Canada as well, and Robb said it expects to grow its store count there from six to 35.

Seattle -- Nordstrom reported Thursday that its first-quarter net income rose 25% on improved revenue. But the company lowered its full-year outlook to reflect the impact of its acquisition of private-sale website HauteLook.

Nordstrom said it earned $145 million for the quarter that ended April 30, up from $116 million in the same quarter last year. (The figure includes a charge related to the HauteLook acquisition.) Revenue increased 12% to $2.23 billion. Same-store sales were up 6.5%.