KPI analysis with a target looks at the variance of the current value to its target. It’s considered significant if the variance is high or low compared to other segments. KPI analysis without a target looks at the value itself and flags ones that are high or low compared to other segments.

For KPI analysis explanations, Power BI looks for and identifies the categories that have higher or lower than anticipated values. For KPI analysis with target, possible explanations are ranked based on Z-scores of the difference of the value from the target. Whereas for KPI analysis without a target, possible explanations are ranked based on the Z-scores of the value itself.