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Why Ross Stores (ROST) Dipped More Than Broader Market Today

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Ross Stores (ROST - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $146.78, moving -0.64% from the previous trading session. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a loss of 0.17% for the day. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.44%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.04%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the discount retailer had lost 2.66% over the past month. This has lagged the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 5.43% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.25% in that time.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Ross Stores in its upcoming release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.41, up 6.02% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $5.17 billion, up 5.01% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $6.20 per share and a revenue of $21.27 billion, demonstrating changes of +11.51% and +4.39%, respectively, from the preceding year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Ross Stores. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.18% downward. Ross Stores presently features a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, Ross Stores currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 23.83. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 20.43, so one might conclude that Ross Stores is trading at a premium comparatively.

Investors should also note that ROST has a PEG ratio of 2.4 right now. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Retail - Discount Stores industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.4.

The Retail - Discount Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 212, placing it within the bottom 16% of over 250 industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.


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