(Reuters) – Discount retailer Ross Stores forecast annual sales and profit below estimates on Tuesday, joining its larger peers in indicating a dip in consumer demand due to rising inflationary pressures.
U.S. consumer spending saw its first decline in nearly two years this January, with marked slumps in sales at furniture, clothing and electronic retailers. Forecasts warn of further drops, as tariff impositions and immigration crackdowns loom.
Ross Stores’ efforts to diversify its product assortment with varying price points to attract more customers fell short, as its core customer base, primarily consisting of lower-to-middle income households, scaled back on expenses.
“We believe a combination of unseasonable weather and heightened volatility in the macroeconomic and geopolitical environments has negatively impacted customer traffic,” said CEO Jim Conroy.
Off-price retail peer TJX also forecast annual comparable sales growth and profit below estimates in its latest earnings report.
Retail giants such as Walmart and Target also provided bleak annual forecasts, as they expect that President Donald Trump’s import tariffs will exert pressure on consumer spending.
Shares of the company were marginally up in after-market trading.
The company expects fiscal 2025 comparable sales to be down 1% to up 2%, compared with analysts’ estimates of a 2.9% rise, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The forecast for annual earnings per share is set in the range of $5.95 to $6.55, compared with expectations of $6.69.
The company’s fourth-quarter sales fell 1.8% to $5.91 billion from the previous year, exceeding analysts’ expectations of a 1.1% drop to $5.96 billion. It earned a profit of $1.79 per share, compared with estimates of $1.66 per share.
(Reporting by Aamir Sohail and Anuja Bharat Mistry in Bengaluru; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi)
