Yahoo Finance 5 Top-Ranked Stocks to Gift Your Valentine
Valentine’s Day is here and people are splurging on gifts. This would translate into high consumer spending and result in an upside in the stock market.
Spending is likely to be one of the highest on record for Valentine’s Day as Americans are expected to shell out $25.9 billion on celebrations this year, per the National Retail Federation’s survey. This is up from $23.9 billion spent last Valentine’s Day. Given an uptick in seasonal sales, companies selling Valentine’s Day products should see a boost in sales and a resultant surge in their stock price.
So, investors could shower their affection on some stocks and exploit the market trend. These include Hershey Company HSY, Signet Jewelers SIG, Brinker International EAT, Burlington Stores BURL and MercadoLibre MELI. These stocks have a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), or 2 (Buy), suggesting their strong performances in the near term. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
More than half of consumers plan to celebrate and spend an average of $192.80. This is up from $175.41 in 2022, and the second-highest since NRF started tracking Valentine’s Day spending in 2004. Similar to recent years, the top shopping destination is online (35%), closely followed by department stores (34%), discount stores (31%) and specialty stores (18%).
Candy (57%), greeting cards (40%), flowers (37%), an evening out (32%) and jewelry (21%) remain the most popular gift items this Valentine’s Day. Americans plan to spend more than $5.5 billion on jewelry and nearly $4.4 billion on an evening out.
Stocks to Splurge On
Hershey is the largest chocolate manufacturer in North America as well as a global leader in chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery. It manufactures pantry items like baking ingredients, toppings and beverages; and gum and mint refreshment products; snack bites and mixes, as well as spreads. HSY saw solid earnings estimate revision of 42 cents over the past 30 days for this year, with an expected earnings growth of 10.21%.
Hershey has a Zacks Rank #1 and Growth Score of B. HSY has a market cap of $49 billion.
Signet Jewelers is a retailer of diamond jewelry, watches as well as other products. The company is often considered as the leading retailer of diamond jewelry and has a market cap of $3.5 billion. SIG saw a solid earnings estimate revision of 5 cents over the past 30 days for the fiscal year (ending January 2024).
Signet Jewelers carries a Zacks Rank #2 and has a Value Score of B.
Brinker International owns, operates, develops and franchises various restaurants under Chili’s Grill & Bar (Chili’s) and Maggiano’s Little Italy (Maggiano’s) brands. The stock saw positive earnings estimate revision of 13 cents for the fiscal year (ending June 2023).
With a market cap of $1.8 billion, Brinker International has a Zacks Rank #2 and a Growth Score of B.
Burlington Stores functions as a retailer of branded apparel products and is also a Fortune 500 company. It offers products such as ladies’ sportswear, menswear, youth apparel, baby furniture, accessories, home décor and gifts, and coats. BURL saw a positive earnings estimate revision of 8 cents over the past 30 days for the fiscal year (ending Jan 2024) with an expected earnings growth of 60.7%.
Burlington Stores has a Zacks Rank #2 and a Momentum Score of B. It has a market cap of $14.6 billion.
MercadoLibre is one of the largest e-commerce platforms in Latin America. The company is a market leader in e-commerce in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Peru, Mexico, and Uruguay based on unique visitors and page views. The stock saw solid earnings estimate revision of 26 cents over the past 30 days for this year and has an estimated growth rate of 82.4%.
MercadoLibre has a Zacks Rank #1 and a Growth Score of A. It has a market cap of $55.6 billion.
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Hershey Company (The) (HSY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Brinker International, Inc. (EAT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Signet Jewelers Limited (SIG) : Free Stock Analysis Report
MercadoLibre, Inc. (MELI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Burlington Stores, Inc. (BURL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
