NEW YORK (AP) – Target’s profit in the first quarter easily beat Wall Street expectations, but slowing sales are spooking investors and the retailer’s shares are down 6 percent before the opening bell. The sale of its pharmacy and clinic businesses pressured revenue as well. Target, based in Minneapolis, earned $632 million, or $1.05 per share, for the three months ended April 30. That compares with $635 million, or 98 cents per share, a year ago. Stripping out one-time items, earnings were $1.29 per share, which was much better than the $1.19 projected on Wall Street, according to a FactSet survey. Revenue slipped to $16.2 billion from $17.12 billion, which was shy of expectations. Sales at stores opened at least a year rose 1.2 percent, but that’s below the expected increase of 1.6 percent.
