The retail industry has gone through an immense amount of change over the last few years, as many publicly traded brick-and-mortar stores now fight to stay in business through the online shopping revolution Amazon (AMZN – Free Report) helped start.
In 2017, more than 8,600 stores are expected to close their doors, according to Credit Suisse analysts. This number tops the number of brick-and-mortar locations that closed during the 2008 recession.
In these turbulent times for the retail industry, many investors have stayed away. But the potential for a GOP tax code overall, which would cut the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20%, could help the industry immensely.
A recent National Retail Federation post titled “Why Passing Tax Reform Is Good For Retail,” highlighted why a Republican tax bill could greatly benefit the retail industry. The post noted that both the Senate and House bills benefit retailers for three major reasons: “They address retail’s high, unequal tax burden; They enable reinvestment; They provide tax relief to consumers.”
Still, if the GOP bill isn’t passed, one retail sector—the discount segment—is already experiencing a boom in a more traditional brick-and-mortar manner. Discount retailers have capitalized on their core customers and started to expand their footprints.
With all of this said, let’s take a look at three discount retail stocks that investors might consider right now.
1. Ross Stores, Inc. (ROST – Free Report)
Shares of the discount retailer with the tagline “Dress for Less” jumped 31.62% in the last 12-weeks and rest near their 52-week high. Ross Stores is also currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and sports an overall “B” VGM grade.
In November, Ross reported Q3 net earnings of $274 million, up from $245 million in the year-ago period. On top of that, the off-priced clothing retailer’s third-quarter sales climbed 8%.
Leave A Comment