Jim Cramer: 'Target Is Getting Killed By Itself'

Target Corporation TGT is the latest department store to report disappointing Holiday sales metrics.

The company cautioned investors that its 1.3 percent decline in comparable sales during the Holiday season warrants a downward revision to its fourth quarter and full-year outlook.

Meanwhile, shares of Macy's Inc M, already hard hit from its own similar Holiday sales warnings earlier in the month, hit a new 52-week low of $28.55 on Wednesday while Kohl's Corporation KSS saw its stock dip more than 2 percent.

Cramer: Target Is Cannibalizing Itself

Jim Cramer said during Wednesday's "Squawk On The Street" segment that Target's report is another sign that investors shouldn't be owning retail stocks. In Target's case, the company managed to demonstrate "incredible" growth in the online business, but at a huge cost.

Cramer explained that Target's 40 percent growth in online sales during the month of December merely replaced sales that would have occurred at brick-and-mortar locations.

In other words, Target's impressive growth in online sales can be seen as a zero-sum gain.

"Target is getting killed by itself," Cramer said. "The main takeaway from this is people are shopping at Target - they're shopping big - but they aren't going to Target."

Image: Mike Mozart, Flickr