Target picks Michael Fiddelke as CEO to replace Brian Cornell

Target on Wednesday said that company veteran Michael Fiddelke will become its next CEO at a critical point in its effort to break out of a sales slump and win back Wall Street’s favor.

Fiddelke, the company’s 49-year-old chief operating officer and former chief financial officer, will succeed Brian Cornell effective Feb. 1. Cornell, who took the helm of the cheap chic retailer in 2014, will transition to the role of executive chair on Target’s board of directors.

The Minneapolis-based retailer made the announcement on the same day it reported fiscal second-quarter results. It topped Wall Street’s quarterly sales and earnings expectations, but stuck by a full-year outlook that forecasts another annual sales decline.

Fiddelke steps into Target’s top role as the discounter tries to find its footing and get back to growth. Target’s annual sales have been roughly flat for the past four years after the company’s sales soared during the Covid pandemic.

On a call with reporters, Fiddelke said he is “stepping in with urgency to rebuild momentum and return to profitable growth.”

He laid out three priorities: Reestablishing Target’s reputation as a retailer with stylish and unique items, providing a more consistent customer experience and using technology more effectively to operate an efficient business.

“We’ve built a solid foundation, and we’re proud of the many ways that Target is unique in American retail,” he said. “We also have real work in front of us.”

Fiddelke is a 20-year Target veteran. During his decades with the company, he has held leadership roles across merchandising, finance, operations and human resources. He became Target’s chief financial officer in late 2019 and stepped into the role of chief operating officer in early 2024.

In May, he was tapped to oversee a new effort, the Enterprise Acceleration Office, created to turn around Target’s results.

Target cut its full-year outlook in May and reiterated that guidance on Wednesday, saying that it expects a low-single-digit percentage point decline in sales this fiscal year.

Target’s performance has shaken Wall Street’s confidence. Shares of the company have tumbled about 60% since their all-time high in 2021. Target’s stock had dropped 22% in 2025 alone as of Tuesday’s close.

Customers, former employees and suppliers told CNBC that the company’s best-known traits of eye-catching merchandise, tidy stores and friendly employees have become weaker. The retailer also is facing stiffer competition from rivals including Walmart, contending with cost pressures because of tariffs and dealing with backlash to its reversal of key diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

And last week, Ulta Beauty and Target announced they are ending a deal that opened mini beauty shops in nearly a third of Target’s stores. The partnership will end in August 2026.

Wall Street had favored an outsider for the CEO job, according to a June survey of 51 investors by Mizuho Securities, an equity research firm. About 96% of investors polled favored an external hire for Target’s next CEO.

Christine Leahy, lead independent director of Target’s board of directors, said in a news release that the board chose Fiddelke after “an extensive external search and assessment of many strong candidates” over several years.

“Michael’s tenure gives him unmatched enterprise insight and a base of strong team trust,” she said. “But what sets him apart is how he combines those strengths with a ‘fresh eyes’ mindset, challenging the status quo to evolve how the business operates, differentiates and delivers long-term value.”

On a call with reporters, Cornell and Fiddelke were asked what they would say to investors who had hoped for Target to hire an outsider who would bring fresh ideas.

Fiddelke answered the question.

“I understand this business,” he said. “I understand what makes Target distinctly unique. And I’ve seen us at our best, and I’ve seen us when we’re not at our best, and that informs my candid assessment today of where we have work to do as well.”

“But I’ll go back to some of what I started with: My number one goal is to get us back to growth.”