MINNEAPOLIS — Target reported that its third quarter profits increased 47% on a 13% sales gain as the retailer successfully navigated challenges presented by inflation and supply issues.

Sales reached $25.3 billion in the three-month period that ended October 30, compared to $22.3 billion in the comparable period last year.

Sales at stores that have been open for at least a year rose 9.7% in the quarter, with double-digit sales growth across all five of its key merchandise categories.

Online comparable sales increased 29% in the quarter.

Target said revenue from its same-day services, including home delivery through Shipt, curbside pickup and in-store retrieval, was up nearly 60%.

Target said its net income rose to $1.49 billion, or $3.04 per share, from $1.01 billion, or $2.01 per share, a year earlier. Adjusted earnings per share for the recent quarter were $3.03, exceeding the $2.82 per share Wall Street had forecast.

Target now expects that same-store sales for the fourth quarter will be up in the high single-digit to low double-digit percentage range, up from the previous guidance for a high single-digit increase.

“The consistently strong growth we’re seeing in our business, quarter after quarter, is a testament to the passion and commitment our team brings to serving our guests, and the trust we’ve built with them as a result,” said Brian Cornell, chairman and chief executive officer of Target Corp. The retailer is fully prepared for a strong holiday season, he said.

Soaring costs are squeezing profit margins, the company acknowledged. Target’s quarterly operating income margin rate during was 7.8% in the third quarter, down from 8.5% last year. Its gross margin rate was 28%, compared to 30.6% a year earlier.

Some of the cost increases will be permanent, according to company officials. While supply chain bottlenecks should ease over time, Target is seeing rising prices from suppliers who are also affected by rising costs, especially for fuel and labor. Target cited higher labor costs in fulfilling online orders as a factor in the quarterly decline in the income margin rate.

On an earnings call with analysts, Cornell said that the company is absorbing some of the higher costs it’s seeing, rather than passing them on to customers.

“We are protecting prices,” he said. “It’s as important to our guests this year as safety has been throughout the pandemic.”

John Mulligan, Target’s chief operating officer, said on the earnings call that the company is making investments that can help alleviate some effects of the supply chain issues.

Target is adding storage capacity at more than 200 high-volume stores, adding temporary storage areas to support seasonal peaks, and doubling the number of parking spots for curbside pickup compared with last year, Mulligan said. It is also designating parking spots with numbers to help its employees more quickly get online orders to customers’ cars.

Target said that more than 95% of third quarter sales were fulfilled in its stores.

Cornell said that inventory levels were up nearly 20% compared with last year’s third quarter, at a cost of about $2 billion. That investment has allowed Target to get ready for the year-end holidays, he said. Target has been creative in making sure items arrive at stores and warehouses in time, Cornell said. The company has contracted some of its own ships, unloaded about 60% of its containers at off-peak times and sent more of its goods to less-trafficked ports.

“With a strong inventory position heading into the peak of the holiday season, our team and our business are ready to serve our guests and poised to deliver continued, strong growth, through the holiday season and beyond,” Cornell said.

Target is preparing for the holidays by adding some 100,000 seasonal employees, filling 30,000 new supply chain roles and giving about 5 million extra hours to current staff.

“The holiday season is off to a great start, but we’ve got many weeks in front of us and think we’re going to continue to see that strength throughout the holiday season right up to Christmas Eve,” Cornell said.