Key Stats for Ross Stores Stock
- Current Price: $235 (May 22, 2026)
- Q1 FY2027 Revenue: $6.0B, +21% YoY
- Q1 FY2027 EPS: $2.02, +37% YoY
- Q1 FY2027 Comparable Store Sales Growth: +17%
- Full-Year Revenue Guidance: Total sales +9%–11% in Q2; full-year comp growth guided +6%–7%
- Full-Year EPS Guidance: $7.50–$7.74, up 13%–17% vs. $6.61 last year
- TIKR Model Price Target: $263
- Implied Upside: +12%
Ross Stores Posts Its Highest Same-Store Sales Growth in 40 Years, Then Guides for 2% to 3% in the Back Half
Ross Stores (ROST) delivered a blowout Q1 FY2027 and reported $6.0 billion in revenue, up 21% year over year, alongside earnings per share of $2.02, a 37% increase from $1.47 in the prior-year quarter.
Comparable store sales grew 17%, which James Conroy, Chief Executive Officer, described on the Q1 earnings call as “the highest same-store sales growth in the company’s 40-year history.”
Ross Stores stock surged 8% on the print, and the mechanics behind the comp matter: growth was driven entirely by transactions, not ticket inflation, with units per transaction flat for the period.
Michael Hartshorn, Group President and Chief Operating Officer, confirmed on the Q1 earnings call that traffic was the primary driver and that customer count on a comp store basis grew double digits across every income level, every ethnicity, and every age group.
Conroy noted on the Q1 earnings call that the 18-to-24-year-old customer was outperforming virtually every other retailer the company tracks, a cohort that management has explicitly targeted through a revamped marketing strategy focused on brand modernization and social media presence.
Ladies and cosmetics led merchandise results, though every major category posted comp growth in the teens or higher, and every geography contributed, with the Midwest performing best.
Operating margin expanded 120 basis points to 13.4%, versus 12.2% in the year-ago quarter, driven by a 145-basis-point improvement in cost of goods sold.
Merchandise margin improved 85 basis points, occupancy leveraged 60 basis points on the strong sales volume, and distribution and domestic freight costs declined 15 and 10 basis points, respectively.
Ross Stores raised full-year EPS guidance to $7.50–$7.74, up 13% to 17% versus $6.61 last year, with second-half comp assumptions unchanged at 2% to 3%.
William Sheehan, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, noted on the Q1 earnings call that the company beat Q1 estimates by roughly $0.35 and flowed approximately $0.38 to the full year.
Ross Stores stock also benefits from a $2.55 billion, two-year buyback authorization approved in March, with $1.275 billion targeted for repurchase in fiscal 2026 and $319 million already deployed across 1.5 million shares in Q1.
ROST Revenue Surges 21% While Operating Margins Reach a Multi-Quarter High
The income statement for the quarter ended May 2, 2026, marks the best operating margin for Ross Stores stock in the eight quarters on record: revenue of $6 billion, up 20.6% year over year, with operating income of $800 million and an operating margin of 13.4%.
The margin trajectory had been rebuilding for three consecutive quarters: operating margin moved from 11.5% in August 2025 to 11.6% in November 2025, expanded to 12.3% in January 2026, and reached 13.4% in the most recent period.
Gross margin followed a similar pattern, recovering from a trough of 28.2% in May 2025 to 34.2% in November 2025, compressing to 28.7% in January 2026, then returning to 29.6% in Q1 FY2026.
Sheehan also confirmed on the Q1 earnings call that merchandise margin improved 85 basis points and buying costs rose 25 basis points due to higher incentives tied to the earnings outperformance, with both marketing and store-related costs leveraging during the period.
ROST Stock Valuation Model Results (TIKR)
TIKR’s valuation model prices Ross Stores stock at $263, implying an 12% total return from the current price of $235, or 2.4% annualized over the next ~5 years.
The mid-case assumes a revenue CAGR of 5.4% and a net income margin of 10%, assumptions calibrated to steady 5% unit expansion and normalized comp growth rather than a continuation of Q1’s historic 17% print.
The model embeds P/E compression of 1.5% annually in the mid-case, meaning the multiple contracts throughout the forecast period even as earnings grow, which is why the implied upside is modest relative to the underlying earnings trajectory.
The low case values Ross Stores stock at $248 by 2035, producing a 0.6% annualized return, consistent with comps fading toward the guided 2% to 3% back-half range and no further margin expansion from current levels.
The mid-case projects $313 by 2035 at a 3.3% IRR, the path where 5% to 6% revenue growth compounds steadily alongside margins holding near the 13% operating margin range and the 110-store annual pipeline delivers on schedule.
The high case reaches $381 with a 5.7% IRR, a scenario that would require comp strength above the guided 6% to 7% annual range to persist into the out years, supported by the Northeast expansion contributing ahead of underwriting expectations.
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