Top Consumer Stocks
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Consumer stocks were broadly mixed Tuesday, with shares of consumer staples companies in the S&P 500 sinking nearly 0.7% in afternoon trading while shares of consumer discretionary firms in the S&P 500 were climbing more than 0.1%.
In industry news:
Same-store sales grew 3.8% over year-ago levels during the week ended March 3, matching the largest increase of 2018 and improving on a 3.3% rise during the prior week period, the Redbook survey of 20 large chain retailers found. Month-to-date sales, however, remain on negative ground, slipping 0.5% last week although that decline was 0.1 percentage point smaller than the week ended Feb. 24.
Among consumer stocks moving on news:
- Target ( TGT ) slumped Tuesday, falling 4.5% to a session low of $71.77 a share, after the discount retailer reported adjusted net income for its holiday quarter trailing year-ago levels and also narrowly missing Wall Street expectations. Excluding one-time items, the company earned $1.37 per share during the three months ended Feb. 3, down from $1.45 per share during the same quarter last year and lagging the Capital IQ consensus by $0.01 per share. Net sales rose to $22.77 billion compared with 20.69 billion last year and topped the analyst mean expecting $22.56 billion. For the current quarter, the company is projecting adjusted net income in a range of $1.25 to $1.45 per share, straddling the $1.40 per share Street view. It also sees FY18 adjusted earnings between $5.15 to $5.45 per share, also bridging the $5.26 per share analyst consensus. Comparable-store sales are expected to grow in the low single-percentage digits during Q1 and FY18, Target said.
In other sector news:
Online automotive workplace
+ Cars.com ( CARS ) sped to a more than 7% gain on Tuesday, topping out at $30.31 a share, after the online auto seller beat analyst estimates on both its top and bottom lines, supported by an 6% year-over-year increase in mobile traffic. Excluding one-time items, the company earned $0.48 per share, exceeding the Capital IQ consensus by $0.17 per share. Revenue slipped 3% year-over-year to $156.6 million from $161.7 million last year but still topped the $156.3 million analyst mean. For FY18, the company is expecting 10% to 11% revenue growth, in-line with the 10.3% increase to around $691.01 million in sales that analysts, on average, are expecting.
- United Parcel Service ( UPS ) gained Tuesday after analysts at Stifel Nicolaus raised their investment rating for deliveries and logistics company to to Buy from Hold although they also trimmed their price target for the company's stock by $6 to $121 a share.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
