Ross Stores Fourth-Quarter Sales Rise as Traffic Picks Up - WSJ

Ross Stores' fourth-quarter sales increased as customer traffic improved, the company reported on Tuesday. The off-price retailer's total sales rose 5% to $6.0 billion for the quarter ended Feb. 3, compared with $5.7 billion a year earlier. The company's comparable store sales increased 3% on top of a 4% increase in the prior year's quarter. Ross Stores' shares rose 3.5% in after-hours trading. The company also announced a new share repurchase program, authorizing the repurchase of up to $1.5 billion of its stock. The company's results were boosted by strong demand for its apparel and home goods, as well as a favorable comparison to the prior year's quarter, when sales were impacted by the Omicron variant. Ross Stores is optimistic about its outlook for fiscal 2024, expecting comparable store sales to increase between 2% and 3% and earnings per share to be in the range of $5.04 to $5.14.