Retail sales Jump Sharply in March (BBY, LOW, HD, JWN, KSS)
Retail sales in March grew solidly due to an earlier Easter holiday and unseasonably warm weather through much of the country. March retail industry sales grew 0.80% seasonally adjusted, well above economists’ estimates of a rise of 3%.
Last month’s gains, which surpassed economists’ expectations for only a 0.3%rise, could prompt analysts to raise their forecasts for first-quarter consumer spending, the main driver of the economy.
Motor vehicle sales rose 0.9%after increasing 1.3%in February. Auto sales have accelerated in recent months, boosted by pent-up demand by households.
Excluding autos, retail sales grew 0.8%last month after advancing 0.9%in February.
Elsewhere, gasoline sales receipts increased 1.1%after rising 3.6%in February. The rise in gasoline sales reflected high prices at the pump.
Excluding autos and gasoline, sales advanced 0.7%in March, adding to the prior month’s 0.5%gain.
Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) shares slid 1.32% to $21.75 after the company said on Saturday that the locations of the 50 U.S. stores it said last month would be closed, most of them by May 12. The stores are in 21 states and Puerto Rico; California has the largest number of closures at seven. “This was not an easy decision to make,” Richfield, Minn.-based Best Buy said in a statement. Shares of BBY are down 0.41% in the pre-open session.
Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) was up 0.82% and The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) climbed 0.85% to $51.38 after hitting a new 52-week high of $51.80. This morning, analyst at Piper Jaffray upgraded the both the companies from “Neutral” to “Overweight”. For HD, the firm lifted its price target by $15 to $62 and for LOW, the price targeted was raised by $12 to $41.
Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE:JWN) gained 0.71% to $55.38 after analyst at CLSA upgraded the stock to outperform .
Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS) added 1.07% to $50.12 as Barron’s reported that the mid-priced department store operator is a bargain buy.