Analysts tell Target to consider bailing on Canada...

Several news outlets - including The Calgary Herald - are reporting that the future of Target in Canada is being questioned by some analysts after the U.S. discount retailer fumbled its initial launch across the country and has since struggled to recover.

Michael Exstein, an analyst with Credit Suisse in New York, said in a recent note to clients that Target should "decide one way or the other on whether Canada is worth diverting time and management capital away from the U.S. business.... We think it may be more prudent for Target to cut its losses and devote 100 per cent of its resources on the U.S., which comprises over 97 per cent of the company's current sales," he said.

Extein added "If Target exits Canada in 2015, we estimate it will incur $3.5 billion in charges, but generate $1 billion in cash proceeds. We estimate Target would see a nearly 10 per cent decline in equity and the largest decline in FCF (free cash flow) since 2007."