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Nordstrom Rises 63% in a Year: Time to Buy, Sell or Hold the Stock?

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Nordstrom, Inc. (JWN - Free Report) stock has been trending up the charts in the past year, recording growth of 63.3%. This upside comfortably outpaces the broader Retail-Wholesale sector’s return of 38% and the Zacks Retail - Apparel and Shoes industry‘s 37.3% growth in the same period. JWN’s shares also surpassed the S&P 500 index’s appreciation of 34.2% in the same time. The company is benefiting from digital initiatives, optimizing operations and momentum at the Rack banner.

Currently priced at $21.97, JWN stock is trading at 8.6% to its 52-week high of $24.03, reached on July 17, 2024. However, it is trading at a 70.6% premium to its 52-week low mark.

JWN’s Strategies Aid the Rally

Nordstrom has been making smart moves to enrich consumers’ experience. The company is focused on driving efficiency and improving customer experience via faster order fulfillment. It is also on track to reduce inventory and optimize product mix. JWN is confident about the strength of its brands and its ability to drive growth and deliver long-term value to shareholders.

JWN's Price Performance

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The company has been seeing improvement in the Nordstrom Rack banner, driven by strategic brand penetration increases.  It remains on track to introduce more premium brands and better assortment at Rack and increase the brand awareness. 

JWN continues seeking additional efficiencies and improved productivity through inventory-management initiatives. Management remains focused on improving Nordstrom Rack’s performance and progressing on its supply-chain optimization initiatives. The company has been expanding its merchandise offering at reasonable prices.

Nordstrom’s Digital Efforts Seem Robust

Nordstrom is focused on digital growth. The Rack banner's digital channel is a differentiator to the off-price retail, allowing customers to shop when and how they want. The company has been expanding its merchandise offering at reasonable prices along with a focus on in-stock rates. Further, its private brands have been doing well, with the Nordstrom brand and Zella being the top volume brands.

Digital momentum continued in the most recent quarter, with sales growth of 6% year over year. Growth at nordstrom.com was backed by an increase in the assortment, improvements in search and discovery, and high in-stock rates of its fastest-turning items. The company has launched its marketplace and added more than 15,000 items to the digital offering of roughly 100 new brands.

The company has made the strategic decision to change how to store and access data. This transformational change will improve data access and analysis capabilities, hence enhancing the ability to leverage generative AI solutions and services at a higher pace.

JWN’s Long-Term Strategy Bodes Well

Nordstrom’s long-term strategy, which builds on its market strategy to capitalize on its digital-first platform to better serve customers, gain market share and deliver profitable growth, looks encouraging. It concentrates on winning in the most important markets, expanding the reach of Nordstrom Rack and enhancing its digital velocity.

JWN’s closer-to-you strategy, which aims to link stores and services to expedite deliveries, expand online offerings and add cheaper merchandise at its Rack off-price stores, bodes well. Such catalysts aim at generating $2 billion in revenues in the long term.

JWN’s Solid Earnings Estimate Revisions

The aforesaid catalysts have prompted analysts to remain optimistic about JWN. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2024 and 2025 earnings has been northbound. In the past 60 days, the consensus estimate for earnings per share (EPS) for the current fiscal year has been revised 5.6% to $1.89 and 7.9% to $1.92 for fiscal 2025.

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JWN Stock’s Valuation

Nordstrom stock is trading at an attractive valuation relative to the industry. Going by the price/earnings ratio, JWN stock is currently trading at 11.48 on a forward 12-month basis, lower than 17.11 of the industry. Also, the stock is trading lower than the S&P 500 index’s 21.92.

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Conclusion

JWN stock is performing well on the bourses given its solid strategic efforts including digital endeavors. Nordstrom’s long-term growth strategies further demonstrate strength. Solid upward revisions in earnings estimates and attractive valuation for the stock seem encouraging as well. The company currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Other Key Picks

We have highlighted three other top-ranked stocks, namely Boot Barn (BOOT - Free Report) , Abercombie (ANF - Free Report) and Deckers (DECK - Free Report) . 

Boot Barn, a lifestyle retail chain devoted to western and work-related footwear, apparel and accessories, currently sports a Zacks Rank of 1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 7.1%, on average. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Boot Barn’s current financial-year sales and EPS indicates growth of 10.7% and 8.9%, respectively, from the year-ago figures.

Abercrombie, a leading casual apparel retailer, currently sports a Zacks Rank of 1. ANF delivered an earnings surprise of 28.9% in the last reported quarter. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Abercrombie’s current financial-year sales indicates growth of 11.5% from the year-ago figure. 

Deckers, a footwear and accessories dealer, currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). DECK delivered an average earnings surprise of 47.2% in the trailing four quarters.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Deckers’ current financial-year sales indicates growth of 11.5% from the year-ago figure.

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