Shares of The TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) are trading defensively at Wednesday’s open as the company’s outlook for the current quarter was less than Wall Street expected and eclipsed an otherwise solid quarterly performance.

The stock’s performance is being amplified by losses across the retail sector after Target (TGT) warned of “unique challenges and cost pressures” that impacted its bottom-line. Target (TGT) lowered its full-year EPS guidance more than expected, weighing on the entire sector with shares of Kohl’s (KSS), Dillard’s (DDS), American Eagle Outfitters (AEO), and Nordstrom (JWN) all trading in the red in sympathy with an 18% drop in Target (TGT). The SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) is down 1.3% at the open to a two-week low.

TJX’s value proposition and “bargain hunting” business model helped insulate the company from unique challenges across the retail sector, specifically in its international business, where comparable sales were up 7% versus a 3% gain for the consolidated business.

“Across the company, customer transactions drove our comp sales increases, which tells us that our values and treasure hunt shopping experience are appealing to a wide range of customers,” CEO Ernie Herman said, adding that with above-plan profitability results in Q3, the company raised its full year guidance for pretax profit margin and EPS.

For FY24, the company expects comparable sales to be up 3% and raised its profit outlook again to $4.15 to $4.17 per share from previous guidance of $4.03 to $4.09 per share. Bottom-line guidance, however, came in short of the $4.17 street outlook.

For the current quarter, which includes holiday sales, TJX set conservative guidance with consolidated comparable store sales to be up 2% to 3% with a pretax profit margin of 10.8% to 10.9%. Profits will likely be between $1.12 to $1.14 per share, down from the previous quarter and a miss from the consensus estimate of $1.18.

TJX (TJX) shares are down 1.8% and in the red for a third straight day.