Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.32 EPS

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.32, FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 36.70%. Ross Stores updated its FY 2026 guidance to 7.500-7.740 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance to 1.850-1.930 EPS.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST traded down $0.60 during trading on Thursday, reaching $217.19. The stock had a trading volume of 3,553,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,546,465. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $218.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $196.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $69.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.86, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.87. Ross Stores has a fifty-two week low of $124.49 and a fifty-two week high of $231.16.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 26.93%.

More Ross Stores News

Here are the key news stories impacting Ross Stores this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Ross Stores reported Q1 EPS of $2.02, topping estimates of $1.70, and revenue of $6.01 billion versus expectations of $5.64 billion, highlighting a significant beat on both profit and sales. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised second-quarter 2026 EPS guidance to $1.85-$1.93, above the consensus estimate of $1.79, suggesting management sees continued momentum. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Ross Stores also lifted fiscal 2026 EPS guidance to $7.50-$7.74, ahead of the Street’s $7.31 estimate, reinforcing a favorable earnings outlook. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share, which supports the investment case but is unlikely to be the main driver of the stock move. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Some commentary still flags tariff risks as a potential headwind, which could temper optimism if costs rise or margins come under pressure. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total transaction of $1,174,980.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 104,648 shares in the company, valued at $22,331,883.20. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total transaction of $3,398,371.83. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 116,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,935,577.48. This represents a 11.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 25,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,521,004. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1,908.8% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,816,763 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $276,857,000 after purchasing an additional 1,726,324 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 20.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,582,401 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,222,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657,008 shares during the period. Viking Global Investors LP boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 56.5% in the fourth quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 3,167,479 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $570,590,000 after purchasing an additional 1,143,611 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 357.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,451,569 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $261,486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,186 shares during the period. Finally, Scopus Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the second quarter valued at $102,281,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $240.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.56.

Ross Stores Company Profile

Ross Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: ROST) is an American off‑price retailer headquartered in Dublin, California, that operates the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS store formats. The company sells a broad assortment of apparel, footwear, home fashions, accessories and other soft goods, positioning itself as a value-oriented destination for brand‑name and fashion merchandise at reduced prices.

Ross’s business model centers on opportunistic buying of excess inventory, closeouts, cancelled orders and overstocks from manufacturers, department stores and other suppliers.