Target Corporation’s sales increased in May and beat Wall Street expectations.

The Minneapolis-based retailer said Thursday that its same-store sales—sales at stores open at least a year and an industry barometer—rose 4.4 percent. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting a 3.5 percent jump.

Target Chairman, President, and CEO Gregg Steinhafel said that the same-store sales “were at the high end of our expected range.”

Meanwhile, net retail sales for the four weeks that ended May 26 totaled $5 billion, representing a 5 percent jump from the same period last year.

On news of the retailer’s strong May performance, shares of its stock were trading up almost 1 percent at $58.28 mid-day on Thursday.

Earlier this month, Target reported a boost in first-quarter sales and earnings, which prompted it to raise its full-year earnings outlook.

Earnings totaled $697 million, or $1.04 per share, for the quarter that ended April 28, up 1.2 percent from the same period a year ago. First-quarter revenue, meanwhile, totaled $16.5 billion, up 6.1 percent from $15.6 billion in 2011.

In light of the first-quarter results, Target boosted its earnings outlook by 5 cents and now expects per-share earnings in the range of $4.60 to $4.80. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect Target’s full-year earnings to total $4.28 per share.

Target is Minnesota’s second-largest public company based on revenue, which totaled $69.9 billion during the fiscal year that ended in January. The company currently operates 1,764 stores throughout the United States, and it will expand into Canada next year.