Do You Have These Consumer Stocks On Your Watch List For This Week?
Consumer stocks could arguably remain a viable play in the stock market today. After all, it seems that consumers are undeterred from spending. According to the Commerce Department last week, retail sales jumped by 3.8% from December to January. This jump comes despite fears of the Omicron variant and rising consumer prices. Through it all, American consumers kept spending, showing signs of the economy’s resilience. If anything, the retail sales number is suggesting that consumer spending trends remain strong even after the holiday season. So much so that some of the top consumer stocks like Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) continue to thrive despite the supply chain imbalances.
Since consumer spending accounts for the bulk of economic activity in the U.S., it’s worth paying attention to some of the top consumer stocks in the market. We only need to look at the likes of Walmart (NYSE: WMT). The big-box retailer in its recent quarter delivered better-than-expected earnings and revenue. The company brought in a net income of $3.56 billion, a stark bounce back from last year’s loss. As such, this could be a signal as to where consumer spending is heading towards. Additionally, hotel chain Hilton Worldwide (NYSE: HLT) is seeing a rebound in their business as well. From its latest quarterly results, the hotel operator surpassed top and bottom lines. This further supports the narrative of increasing consumer spending, as restrictions ease and tourism resumes. With all that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the top consumer stocks in the stock market today.
Consumer Stocks To Watch This Week
- The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD)
- Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M)
- Marriott International Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR)
- PepsiCo Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP)
The Home Depot
Kicking off our list for today is The Home Depot, one of the largest home improvement companies in the U.S. The company offers its customers an assortment of building materials, home improvement products, and construction tools. Additionally, it provides services such as home improvement installation and equipment rental. For the most part, it serves two primary customer groups, namely do-it-yourself (DIY) customers who purchase and install the products on their own, and professional customers who are primarily contractors and renovators. Over the past year, HD stock has risen by about 18%.
Yesterday, the company reported its fourth-quarter and fiscal 2021 results. For starters, sales for the quarter was $35.7 billion, an increase of $3.5 billion from the same quarter a year ago. Besides that, overall comparable sales increased by 8.1%, and in the U.S. specifically, it increased by 7.6%.
Moving on, net earnings for the quarter were $3.4 billion, a respectable increase from last year’s earnings of $2.9 billion. Accordingly, earnings per diluted share was $3.21, compared to $2.65 from the same period the year before. Besides this, The Home Depot also achieved a milestone of a record $150 billion in sales for 2021. Given the company’s performance, would you consider buying HD stock?
Macy’s
Following that, we have Macy’s, one of the largest omnichannel retailers in the U.S. today. For the most part, the company operates through its three flagship brands. These include Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, and Bluemercury. Accordingly, these brands sell a range of products including apparel and accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings, and other consumer goods. Currently, Macy’s caters to customers through its e-commerce, mobile app, and national retail store network. Over the past year, M stock has grown in price by over 45%
Also yesterday, the retailer reported strong results to close off the final quarter of 2021. In fact, for every quarter in 2021, Macy’s outperformed expectations on both top and bottom lines. This is rather impressive considering the pandemic restrictions, supply chain issues, inflation and other issues disrupting the economy.
For the quarter, Macy’s attracted 7.2 million new customers to shop its brand. Besides that, comparable sales were up 28.3%, up by 6.6% year-over-year. It also reported $2.45 in adjusted earnings per share, beating consensus estimates. All in all, given the strong quarter, do you think M stock is worth adding to your cart?
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Marriott International
Marriott International is a multinational company that operates, franchises, and licenses lodging. These include hotels, residential properties, and timeshare properties. A few of the notable luxury hotels under the company include The Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott Hotels, and St. Regis Hotels & Resorts. Besides that, Marriott also has one of the largest hotel chains in the world by the number of rooms available. The company also offers Marriott Bonvoy, its highly awarded travel program. Over the past six months, MAR stock has risen by over 25%, likely as the company rebounds from the pandemic.
Last week, the company released its fourth-quarter earnings. Notably, its net income for the quarter was $468 million. This compared to the net loss of $164 million last year brought upon by the pandemic.
Moving on, comparable systemwide revenue per available room (RevPAR) rose by 124.5% worldwide compared to a year ago. This comes as each of its regions saw a meaningful recovery in the fourth quarter. Also, the company also managed to add more than 86,000 rooms globally in 2021. This includes approximately 43,000 rooms in international markets and a total of over 18,000 conversion rooms. With Marriott looking to return to its former glory, should you add MAR stock to your watchlist?
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PepsiCo
Finally, we have PepsiCo. Most of us would be familiar with the global food company’s offerings. This ranges from its famous beverage lines such as Pepsi-Cola and Gatorade to food brands like Frito-Lay and Quaker.
In fact, the company possesses 23 brands that have over $1 billion in sales. PepsiCo also estimates that its products are consumed over a billion times a day across more than 200 countries worldwide. In the past year, PEP stock has gone up by over 25%.
Looking at its recently released fourth-quarter earnings, its net revenue came in at about $25.25 billion. This is up by 12.4% year-over-year and exceeds analyst estimates by $1 billion. Moving on, net income was $1.32 billion, or an earnings per share of $0.95. Besides that, Pepsi said it expects organic revenue growth of 6% for 2022. As for its earnings outlook, the company is projecting earnings of $6.67 per share for the full year. And on that note, is PEP stock one to watch?
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