NEW YORK — Target’s challenge to revive sales and its status as a cheap chic retailer just got more complicated.

The discounter announced Wednesday that sales fell more than expected in the first quarter, and the retailer warned they will slip for all of 2025 year as its customers, worried over the impact of tariffs and the economy, pull back on spending.

Target also said customer boycotts did some damage during the latest quarter. The company, long a fierce advocate for the rights of Black and LGBTQ+ people, scaled back many diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in January after they came under attack by the White House. Target’s retreat is reminiscent of another backlash, with customers angered by the retailer’s reduction of LGBTQ+-themed merchandise for Pride Month in June 2023.

Quarterly sales fell 2.8% from last year to $23.85 billion, and that was short of the $24.23 billion Wall Street expected, according to FactSet. Target earned $1.04 billion, or $2.27 per share, for the period ended May 3. That compares with $942 million, or $2.03 per share, in the year-ago period.

Target cut its annual sales projections Wednesday. The company now expects a low-single digit decline for 2025 after projecting a 1% increase for sales in March.

Comparable store sales, those from established stores and online channels, fell 3.8%. That includes a 5.7% drop in store sales and a 4.7% increase in online sales. That reverses a comparable store sales increase of 1.5% in the previous quarter. The number of transactions across online and physical stores fell 2.4%, and the average ticket dropped 1.4%.

Target didn’t offer specifics on the effect of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on prices.