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% year-over-year. Ross Stores' shares rose 3.5% in after-hours trading following the announcement. The company also announced a new share repurchase program, authorizing the buyback of up to $1.5 billion of its stock. For the full fiscal year, Ross Stores reported net income of $1.9 billion, or $5.61 per diluted share, on sales of $18.1 billion. The company provided an upbeat outlook for fiscal 2024, expecting comparable store sales to grow between 2% and 3% and earnings per diluted share to be in the range of $5.73 to $5.93.