Rebecca Day

Target shares reached a 52-week high Wednesday as the stock closed 12.7% higher at $154.22 after its strongest-ever quarter of same-store sales growth. Q2 comparable sales jumped 24.3% for the quarter ended Aug. 1. Stores fulfilled more than 90% of sales in the quarter, said CEO Brian Cornell. The retailer had market share gains of $5 billion in the first half, with “unusually strong” gains across all five core categories. Cornell credited a differentiated merchandising assortment and convenient fulfillment options, on a Wednesday earnings call.

Walmart's Q2 revenue grew 5.6% to $137.7 billion, fueled largely by government stimulus payments, said the company Tuesday. Walmart U.S. same-store sales grew 9.3% from the 2019 quarter as consumers dined and entertained more at home and upped their home and yard spending, said CEO Doug McMillon on an investor call. E-commerce sales soared 97%, to two-thirds of comparable sales, said Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs.

Some 84% of filled e-commerce carts are abandoned, said Kevin Wild, Sezzle head of e-commerce partnerships, on a Thursday webinar. Leading causes are hidden, unexpected costs (55%), the need to create an account (34%), a complicated checkout process (26%), and aversion to providing credit card information with a merchant (17%).

After a slow start, global headphone sales in Q2 benefited from COVID-19 lockdowns and remote working, Futuresource reported Friday. “Although March and April were hit hard, many brands came back fighting, with product promotions and multiple offers,” said analyst Adriana Blanco. Headphone unit sales were down 8% in Q2, but dollar sales rose 13% on strength of true wireless models, which were 40% of headphones shipped. Apple’s AirPods led, propping up the average selling price of the category.

Security vulnerabilities abound in five models of video doorbells tested, reported Consumer Reports Thursday: Eufy, GoControl, LaView and Netvue devices had susceptibilities that could expose user data, email addresses and passwords, it said. Eufy told the organization it released an app update to fix the problems on its T8200. CR said GoControl didn't respond to its request for a fix on the GC-DBC-1, and parent Nortek didn’t respond to our questions Friday. CR said LaView disagreed with the severity of issues found with the LaView One Halo LV-PDB1630-U. LaView didn’t respond to our questions. Netvue described the issues as “low-risk hidden dangers," saying it will try to provide a better user experience. It encouraged owners to use the latest version of the mobile app. Tests showed most video doorbells lack two-factor authentication. The only video doorbell brands offering two-factor authentication are Arlo, August, Google Nest, Ring and SimpliSafe, CR said. Blue by ADT told the group its doorbell will get the feature by year-end. CR said many manufacturers fail to minimize the amount of data they collect and don’t offer consumers an easy way to request a copy of their data or to delete it.

Konka made its U.S. debut through regional retailers with three Android TV series launched at CES. Nebraska Furniture Mart (NFM) showed several “on sale” models Wednesday on its e-commerce site, starting with a 32-inch 720p H3, shown as 41% off for $139; a 40-inch version is $199. The 4K U5 line ranges from $239 for a 43-inch set to $449 for a 65-incher, with built-in Google Assistant, a voice remote control and four HDMI inputs, said Konka. NFM didn't carry the Q7 quantum dot QLED series, comprising 50-, 55-, 65- and 75-inch models. The flagship 75-inch Q75A QLED TV has a minimum advertised price of $1,199; the QLED line also includes a 50-inch model ($369), a $429 55-inch set and $629 65-inch unit, emailed Scott Ramirez, Konka senior vice president-sales and marketing. The TVs are being assembled in Juarez, Mexico, said Ramirez, saying COVID-19 supply chain issues caused a “slight delay” of less than 30 days. The TVs also will be available at Conn’s Home Plus and retailers in the NATM and Nationwide buying groups, he said. Konka TVs will launch “soon” at Amazon and other outlets to be announced later, he said. Ramirez credited Konka’s “global buying power” for the company’s ability to achieve such low price points. He sidestepped questions on target competition.

Xperi sees growth opportunities from continued proliferation of entertainment content, changes in entertainment consumption trends and a broader move toward artificial intelligence at the edge, said CEO Jon Kirchner on the company’s Q2 earnings call Monday. It was Xperi's first call since combining with TiVo June 1 (see 2005070052).

TCL expects a “constrained environment” for the rest of 2020, emailed a spokesperson, following up on the vendor's 2020 virtual product launch for Series-5 and Series-6 TVs last week. TCL’s component supply chains, including panels, reside in China; supplies were disrupted due to COVID-19 early this year, while demand increased in finished goods, she said.

COVID-19 continues to be a “significant headwind” at ON Semiconductor, which reported a 10% revenue drop in Q2 to $1.2 billion, said Chief Financial Officer Bernard Gutmann in the quarterly statement Monday. ON had “moderate improvement in business conditions” on a pickup in global macroeconomic activity, Gutmann said. The company is having “strong momentum” in its power, analog and sensor products.

COVID-19 “continues to impact near-term demand” in Universal Electronics Inc.'s traditional home entertainment and security businesses, said CEO Paul Arling on a Q2 call. UEI's MVPD and security customers’ “ability or willingness to install hardware in consumers' homes” for new service or upgrades “has been disrupted for the time being," he said Thursday.