4 Retail Stocks To Check Out Today Amid Strong Retail Earnings
Retail stocks seem to be among the most active stocks in the stock market this week. For the most part, this is apparent as strong retail earnings and Commerce Department data points towards continued strength in consumer markets. Just yesterday, we saw earnings beats from the likes of Walmart (NYSE: WMT) and Home Depot (NYSE: HD). Namely, both companies topped Wall Street’s estimates in terms of earnings and total revenue for the quarter. For Walmart, its ongoing arrangements with manufacturers and extensive logistics systems continue to help it weather the supply chain storms. Meanwhile, higher consumer spending on home improvement projects seem to be driving sales for Home Depot now.
Alongside these figures, October’s retail sales grew by 1.7%, outpacing the 1.5% growth expected by economists. By and large, all of this could be encouraging signs for consumer markets in the current quarter. Even with concerns over surging inflation, there seems to be sustained pricing power among retailers now. As such, it would not surprise me to see investors eyeing the best retail stocks in the stock market today. On that note, here are four making headlines now.
Top Retail Stocks To Buy [Or Sell] Today
- Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT)
- Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW)
- TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX)
- La-Z-Boy Inc. (NYSE: LZB)
Target Corporation
First up, we have Target Corporation, a general merchandise retailer with stores in all 50 states. The company has been one of the biggest winners to come out from the pandemic, rising more than 170% in valuation since its pandemic era low. It is also a component of the S&P 500 and its retail formats include the discount store Target and hypermarket SuperTarget. In 2020, the company posted a total revenue of $93.6 billion.
Today, the company reported its third-quarter financials. Firstly, its comparable sales grew by 12.7% year-over-year, driven entirely by traffic. Furthermore, digital comparable sales increased by 9.7% while same-day services grew nearly 60% this year. Secondly, the company says that 95% of its third-quarter sales were fulfilled by its stores and it saw all five core merchandise categories deliver double-digit comparable sales growth on top of strong sales performance last year. All things considered, should investors be paying close attention to TGT stock in light of its earnings?
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Lowe’s Companies Inc.
Lowe’s is a retail company that specializes in home improvement. It is a strong consumer brand with solid cash flows and a healthy balance sheet. In fact, the company is well-positioned in a $900 billion home improvement sector that continues to grow. Accordingly, it has 5 focus areas to drive market share acceleration. Notably, it continues to accelerate its online business and also expand installation services for its users. LOW stock is up by over 50% in the past year alone. Today, the company reported its third-quarter financials.
Diving in, Lowe’s reported net earnings of $1.9 billion and diluted earnings per share of $2.73 for the quarter. Total sales for the quarter were $22.9 billion and this is the seventh consecutive quarter that 100% of Lowe’s stores earned a Winning Together profit-sharing bonus. The company says that this quarter’s momentum is a result of its Total Home strategy resonating with the Pro and DIY consumers alike. It also delivered operating margin expansion by driving productivity through disciplined operational execution and cost management. Given all this, is LOW stock worth adding to your portfolio?
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TJX Companies Inc.
Following that, we have TJX Companies, a multinational off-price department store corporation. It has one of the most flexible business models in the world and boasts one of the widest demographic reaches in retail. This allows it to reach a broad range of value-conscious consumers and deliver steady sales and earnings growth through many retail and economic environments across different geographies. TJX is also one of the few retailers of apparel and home fashion to have expanded successfully internationally, operating stores in nine countries across three continents. The company also reported strong earnings today in its third-quarter financials.
To begin with, TJX reported that its open-only comp stores sales have increased by 14% year-over-year. Net sales for the quarter were $12.5 billion, an increase of 20% compared to a year earlier. The company also says that it posted a diluted earnings per share of $0.84, increasing by 24% year-over-year. Notably, TJX also returned $1.1 billion to shareholders in the third quarter through share repurchases and dividends. This quarter also marks the third consecutive quarter that overall open-only comp-store sales increased mid-teens or better. With this piece of information, would you consider TJX stock a top retail stock to buy today?
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La-Z-Boy Inc.
Another retail player making waves in the stock market now would be La-Z-Boy (LZB). Overall, it is a furniture company that is best known for its variety of seating-based offerings. The likes of which range from sofas, upholstered recliners, stationary chairs, lift chairs, and sleeper sofas. As another major name in the home improvement trade, LZB stock could be worth keeping an eye on now. As it stands, LZB stock is currently sitting on gains of over 110% since its pandemic era low.
Ideally, we could see this trend continue as LZB reported its latest quarterly financials earlier today. In it, the company posted an earnings per share of $0.85, beating projections of $0.77. More importantly, LZB also raked in a record revenue of $576 million for the quarter. According to CEO Melinda Whittington, LZB “is much larger today than it was pre-pandemic, and demand remains robust across the entire enterprise.” Also, Whittington believes that strong brands and vast distribution across multiple channels will continue to drive LZB’s sales momentum. With all that said, would you consider LZB stock a buy?
