Executive Summary

The US retail sector continued its growth momentum in the second quarter as some of the biggest players in the industry, including Walmart, Target and Home Depot, posted strong quarterly performances.

• In the mass merchandise and general merchandise retail sector, Walmart posted its strongest same-store sales growth in more than a decade, and its revenues, EPS and comps were all ahead of consensus estimates.
• The apparel and footwear retailers on our focus list of companies grew sales by 8.5% in the second quarter, beating the consensus estimate of 5.9%. The group’s EPS result stopped analysts’ 16.0% growth estimate, growing by 29.2% year over year.
• TJX Companies reported strong quarterly results, including year-over-year sales growth of 11.6%, which beat the consensus estimate of 7.7%, driven by comp growth of 6%.
• Four out of the five department stores on our focus list beat analysts’ expectations and posted healthy sales figures for the quarter.
• Amazon again posted strong quarterly numbers, aided by an increase in Prime memberships, growth in Echo device sales and increasing subscription revenues.