Ross Stores Earnings Beat Sends Stock To New Highs

Summary

Ross Stores Today$234.81 0.00 (0.00%) As of 05/22/2026 04:00 PM Eastern52-Week Range$124.49▼$235.80Dividend Yield0.76%P/E Ratio32.79Price Target$230.88 Ross Stores Inc. NASDAQ: ROST demonstrated once again that bargain hunting is alive and well in today's economy. The off-price retailer posted strong first-quarter results on May 21 as higher customer traffic across the board helped drive growth. The results also extended the company's streak of better-than-expected earnings and helped reignite momentum in the stock. Get Ross Stores alerts:Sign Up Shares, which had pulled back recently as investors took a breather after an impressive run, rose nearly 7% and hit a new all-time high following the report. Strong Traffic Growth Fuels Earnings BeatRevenue for the quarter rose 21% year over year to $6.01 billion, topping analyst estimates by $369 million. Comparable store sales increased 17% from the prior-year period. Customer traffic was the primary driver of the strong sales trend, though the company said higher tax refunds also helped support consumer spending. On the earnings call, Chief Executive James Conroy said the increase in traffic was broad-based among demographic groups. "We saw healthy increases in customer count on a comp store basis across income levels, ethnicities, and all age groups, including the young customers." The strong sales performance also helped drive meaningful margin expansion. Operating margin came in at 13.4%, well above the company's estimate of 11.8% to 12.1%. Net income rose to $650 million from $479 million last year, while earnings per share increased to $2.02 from $1.47 in the prior-year period, and easily topped Wall Street expectations of $1.73 per share. Ross Stores Raises Full-Year OutlookRoss Stores also provided upbeat second-quarter guidance and raised its full-year outlook. For the second quarter, the company expects comparable store sales growth of 6% to 7%, which could translate to earnings per share of $1.85 to $1.93, comp...