Ross Stores (ROST) closed the most recent trading day at $230.09, moving -1.72% from the previous trading session. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.6%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.03%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.18%.
Coming into today, shares of the discount retailer had lost 1.26% in the past month. In that same time, the Retail-Wholesale sector gained 2.94%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.79%.
Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Ross Stores in its upcoming earnings disclosure. On that day, Ross Stores is projected to report earnings of $1.82 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 15.19%. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $6.2 billion, showing a 10.68% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.
Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $8.77 per share and revenue of $25.65 billion, indicating changes of +32.68% and +12.76%, respectively, compared to the previous year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Ross Stores. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the business and profitability.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed an unchanged state. Ross Stores is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Ross Stores has a Forward P/E ratio of 26.69 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 20.25, which means Ross Stores is trading at a premium to the group.
It's also important to note that ROST currently trades at a PEG ratio of 1.83. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. The average PEG ratio for the Retail - Discount Stores industry stood at 1.83 at the close of the market yesterday.
The Retail - Discount Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 22, which puts it in the top 9% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.
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Ross Stores, Inc. (ROST): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).