Target Corp. said Thursday sales at stores open at least one year rose 3.1 percent in July, higher than the 2.7 percent that Wall Street analysts had expected. Total sales rose 3.2 percent to nearly $5 billion for the four-week period that ended July 28, Minneapolis-based Target said in a news release.

The Minneapolis-based retailer reports sales at stores open at least a year grew 4.3 percent in January. That easily beat Wall Street expectations of 2.1 percent.

Shoppers spent less than Wall Street estimates expected in April. The Minneapolis-based retailer reports a key sales figure rose 1.1 percent last month. Foot, health and beauty continue to be the strongest categories. First-quarter sales were the strongest in more than six years, up 5.3 percent.

Target Corporation on Thursday reported that its net retail sales for the five weeks ended June 30, 2012 were $6.4 billion, an increase of 2.6 percent from a similar five-week period last year.

Target Corp. says its same-store sales grew 2.4 percent in October, Forbes reports. Analysts were projecting same-store sales growth of 3.3 percent last month. The Minneapolis-based discount giant's total sales climbed 3 percent to $4.98 billion in October.

Double-digit gains helped fuel the Plymouth-based maker of snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles. Arctic Cat saw a 26 percent increase in net sales and 130 percent increase in net income for Arctic Cat's just completed fiscal year. The results beat Wall Street predictions, but Arctic Cat issued lower-than-expected profit and sales predictions for the current fiscal year.

The Maplewood-based maker of Post-it and Scotch Tape products posted an unexpected decline in second-quarter sales, but still topped Wall Street projections by a penny. Net sales were down 1.9 percent.

Target saw sales figures climb more than four percent for the first four weeks of August. That beat the expectations of analysts who thought the Minneapolis retailer would barely clear three percent. Back to school retail spending was generally strong around the country, even though surveys show consumers are uneasy.