Retailers Show Solid Sales Ahead of holiday rush – COST, GPS, Macy’s, TGT, KSS, WMT

Sale for the month of September at U.S Retailers came in solid, but not a preeminent performer as shoppers finished up their back-to-school buying and put the brakes on more big spending before the holiday season. Moreover, Sales hit a four month high in September.

Matching analyst expectation sales at stores rose 3.6 percent, which open at least a year at 17 chains as tracked by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Comparatively, a 6.4 percent rise of sales was seen last year in September 2011.

 Departmental store category results were not up to expectation, while sales at same store at apparel chains were stronger and more than analyst expectation.

"I think September overall is going to be OK; I don't think it's going to be great," said John Rooney, national retail & distribution sector lead for Deloitte Consulting. 

While there was bigger than expected gains for certain companies, there were companies facing a fall in expectations.

Stage Stores Inc, Costco Wholesale Corporation(NASDAQ:COST ) and The Gap Inc.(NYSE:GPS) posted bigger-than-expected gains in September, however Target Corporation(NYSE:TGT ) and Macy's, Inc.(NYSE:M)’s posted same-store sales increases which missed analysts' expectations, whereas at Kohl's Corporation(NYSE:KSS)  decline was steeper than anticipated.

 An opposite posting was done by Buckle Inc rather than that expected by Wall Street. The Wall Street expected a small rise but Buckle Inc posted a decline.

A drop of 11.1 percent in same-store sales at Walgreen Company (NYSE:WAG) is excluded from the 3.6 percent rise of sales at stores.

A partial view of consumer spending is seen from the monthly sales report as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.(NYSE:WMT) and many other large retailers do not release monthly data. The monthly sales report accounts for only 70 percent of the U.S. economy.

As per expert notion buyers at present can buy what they want immediately holding off on large purchases before holiday.

Careful control over inventories by the chains may not lead to clearance sales before holiday season but there are discounts which counts a lot.