During its first-quarter earnings call May 20, Target Corp. said its stores helped fulfill an unexpected surge in online orders.

Recession fears may be mounting in certain parts of the U.S. economy, but Walmart Inc. and Target Corp. are signaling that the all-important American consumer is doing just fine.

Target Corp. jumped the most in more than two months as it followed up strong holiday sales with upbeat projections for the current year, distancing itself from the travails of mall-based department stores.

Target Corp. is expanding perks like free two-day delivery to snag as much as possible of the $100 billion in sales the company sees up for grabs from retailers that have gone under.

Target Corp. agreed to purchase grocery-delivery startup Shipt Inc. for $550 million, stepping up its challenge to Amazon.com Inc. by speeding the rollout of same-day shipping.

Target Corp. agreed to acquire a software company that manages local and same-day deliveries in a bid to keep pace with Amazon and Wal-Mart.

Target Corp. is bringing back free delivery for the holidays — a strategy it hopes will give it an edge over Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which is eschewing special shipping offers and encouraging online shoppers to pick up items at brick-and-mortar stores.