TJX's 'aggressive growth strategy' puts it in ideal retail spot
US retail sales unexpectedly rose in August, signaling a resilient consumer. Zacks Investment Management client portfolio manager Brian Mulberry joins Josh Lipton for the latest edition of Good Buy or Goodbye to discuss the best and worst performing retail players. Mulberry views TJX Companies (TJX) — the parent of chains TJ Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods — as a buying opportunity, highlighting its positive growth story. He notes that the company's revenue growth is up 6% year-over-year as its brands capture more of the consumer's wallet share. TJ Maxx and Marshall's, in particular, make up 62% of TJX's revenue, while HomeGoods makes up about 17%. Mulberry believes that TJX has adopted an "aggressive growth strategy" as it seeks to open up to 1,300 locations globally. In addition, he points out that the company has great margins, which have increased 0.8% year over year. "[TJX is] growing revenue faster than the retail sales market but also capturing more of it with better cost controls. This is a very strong story, in our opinion, over the next year or so," he tells Yahoo Finance. However, he notes that as the Federal Reserve eases interest rates, there may be some currency headwinds the company will have to face, creating some potential downside risk. Meanwhile, Mulberry is bearish on Target (TGT), explaining that same-store sales are down nearly 4% year over year. "This is obviously a clear sign of a retailer that's not connecting with consumers in a positive way," he explains. The portfolio manager argues that Target has opened a "two-front war with the big box retailers Costco (COST) and Walmart (WMT)," leading the company to discount 5,000 essential goods. He adds that "consumers have kind of wobbled in their spending" at Target as they don't know what to expect price-wise. Mulberry also points to consumer confidence stalling amid heated competition as a further reason investors should stay away from Target. "Obviously, they had some issues with inventory control coming out of COVID. They've tried to discount a lot of that inventory to keep it moving off of the shelf, but that's opened up again another line of competition. And if the economy does start to smooth out or stall, it's going to be an even more competitive environment for those consumer dollars," he explains. However, it's not all bad news for Target. Mulberry explains that the company is "aware of these obstacles that they need to deal with and they are embarking on a digitization and optimization program that will help control some of these costs and rightsize the inventory." Thus, he believes the upside for Target in the near term could be in its approach to cost savings. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Market Domination. This post was written by Melanie Riehl
