Retail Sales Roundup

As I mentioned in my opening missive, most of the retail sales reports I read were better than expected, and some were truly blowout.

Here is a quick rundown of some notable names:

• ANF: +17% (vs. +8.2% estimates)
• AEOS: +19% (vs. +9.9%)
• CTRN: +47.5%! (vs. +20%)
• COST: +7.0% (vs. +5.5%)
• KSS: +13.4% (vs. +5.7%)
• JWN: +7.3% (vs. +4.8%)
• ZUMZ: +19.3% (vs. +16.8%)
• JCP: +2.6% (vs. +2.7%)
• JOSB: +7.3% (vs. +7.0%)
• TGT: +10.4% (vs. +10.2%)
• BEBE: +5.7% (vs. +6.3%)
• CHS: +5.4% (vs. +8.0%)
• HOTT: -6.5% (vs. -2.6%)
• PIR: -6.5% (vs. -0.7%)
• RAD: +4.6% (vs. +5.0%)

Kohl's (KSS) was a big standout for me. I thought the numbers would be good, but this was very good. I haven't seen a number this good for them in probably 4 or 5 years. As for the stock, I have been recommending it since it was in the low 40s. With the stock up roughly +30% since then, I have trimmed it and am holding the rest for a climb into the 60s.

long KSS