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Investopedia

Ross Stores Raises Outlook But Warns About Discretionary Spending

Ross Stores (ROST) shares rose Friday, a day after the discount clothing retailer raised its full-year profit outlook but acknowledged a challenging consumer spending environment.

The company now expects fiscal 2024 earnings per share (EPS) between $6 and $6.13, up from its prior range of $5.79 to $5.98.  

In its second quarter, Ross reported $5.29 billion in sales, up 7% year-over-year, and EPS of $1.59, up 20%. Both the top and bottom lines came in above consensus expectations of analysts polled by Visible Alpha.

However, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Barbara Rentler stressed that the retailer is taking a "cautious approach" to projecting its sales outlook.

"Our low-to-moderate income customers continue to face persistently high costs on necessities, pressuring their discretionary spending," Rentler said. "In addition, our prior year sales comparisons become more challenging during the second half of the year amidst an external environment that is uncertain and volatile."

Shares of Ross rose 1.6% to $154.97 as of 12:30 p.m. ET Friday. They are up 12% in 2024.

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Investopedia

Market Turbulence? Why Individual Investors Aren't Backing Down

Despite recent volatility across the stock market and in other assets, most individual investors remain somewhat optimistic about their portfolios, according to Investopedia’s latest survey. 

Sharp downturns in major stock indexes over the first two weeks of August may have rattled individual investor confidence, but most remain relatively optimistic about their portfolios. According to Investopedia’s recent survey of its readers, nearly two-thirds describe their sentiment as “optimistic” or “cautiously optimistic.” 

While that level of optimism is slightly lower than was registered in June, 42% of those surveyed said they ‘bought the dip’ during the first two weeks of August, while 26% expect higher returns for the market over the next six months. Less than one-third describe themselves as ‘worried’ about recent market events.

While investors mostly feel optimistic about the markets, renewed concerns about a potential recession appear to be curbing their enthusiasm, albeit slightly. 

Just over a quarter of respondents are expecting stock market returns of over 5% in the next six months, an eight percentage point drop from June. Meanwhile 27% are expecting another correction—a drop of 10% or more in the S&P 500—over the next three months. 

Of those expecting another drop in the stock market, nearly three-quarters think the decline will be tied to a recession, while two-thirds believe that high valuations will be to blame.

As for those concerns about overvaluation, investors continue to point to artificial intelligence-related stocks and mega-cap tech. That sentiment has been consistent, and barely unchanged for the past year as stocks like Nvidia (NVDA), Super Micro Computer (SMCI), and Meta (META) have delivered exceptional returns that have stretched their valuations. 

Forty-four percent of respondents still feel cryptocurrencies are overvalued, while less than 30% think housing stocks are overheated.

The upcoming presidential election has topped our list of investors’ biggest concerns for the past several months, and the recent shake-up of the Democratic ticket has only made that event even more uncertain. 

While the election is still our readers' top concern, the recent uptick in unemployment and a slowdown across some sectors of the economy like manufacturing has spurred worries about a possible recession. 

Hopes for a so-called ‘soft landing’ engineered by the Federal Reserve’s handling of interest rates appear to have faded slightly as 61% of respondents think a recession is likely in the next twelve months. That’s a nine-percentage point increase from June, and it’s not a surprise that a recession is now respondents' second biggest concern, followed by an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.

While investors may be worried about the election, inflation, and overvaluation, it would not deter many of them from buying more individual stocks if they had an extra $10,000 to spend. Individual stocks remain the top choice of our respondents, as they have for most of the year, followed by ETFs and stock index funds. CDs were their top choice throughout most of 2022 and 2023 as the Federal Reserve was raising interest rates to battle inflation, but with the prospect of lower interest rates on the horizon, investors are in search of higher yields from equities and equity-related products.

Investopedia’s readers are as consistent as they are loyal to their favorite stocks. While many believe that the Magnificent 7 and large-cap A.I. stocks are overvalued, those stocks largely make up the majority of their favorites, according to our most recent survey. A notable return favorite into our readers’ top ten holdings is chipmaker AMD (AMD). Many of our reader favorites, including Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), and Alphabet (GOOGL), are also among the most-widely held stocks in equity mutual funds, index funds and ETFs. Investors of all sizes have ridden these stocks to incredible gains over the past decade and are loathe to give up on them.

This survey was fielded online to Investopedia readers 18+ living in the U.S. from August 7-12, 2024. Readers must currently hold and manage investments to qualify.  Participation in the survey is entirely voluntary; sample composition reflects U.S. 18+ reader base.

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Gistlegit

Muslim Clerics Condemn VDM's Miracle Water Test On Faithful: Calls For Immediate Apology

VDM is facing severe criticism for his recent actions involving Prophet Jeremiah Fufeyin's miracle water, which he administered to Muslim beggars. This act has been met with significant outrage within the Muslim community, particularly in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), where it is viewed as a provocative and insensitive gesture that disrespects the religious diversity in Nigeria.