As the dust is just starting to settle from the biggest shopping weekend of the year, analysts are pointing to Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE: BBY) as a name that may be a big winner for investors.
KeyBanc analyst Bradley Thomas says channel checks suggest that Best Buy did extremely well in the critical post-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy, gaining market share and enjoying healthy traffic. The disappointments included Bed, Bath & Beyond (BBBY), which Thomas says missed the mark with “uninspiring, undifferentiated” weekend deals.
“From a sector perspective, we have a more positive outlook for underlying trends at dollar/discount and home improvement retailers, where we believe underlying trends are stronger and e-commerce competition is more muted,” Thomas says.
Online sales this year were likely once again dominated by Amazon.com (AMZN). GBH Insights head of technology research Daniel Ives says Amazon was the star of the show this year.
“Our e-commerce trend analysis and survey work indicate that Amazon is on a trajectory to capture between 45 to 50 percent of all holiday online retail sales versus 38 percent of sales during this same period in 2016,” Ives says.
Ives says Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) also “clearly stepped up its game” and could potentially double its online sales this holiday season.
KeyBanc says Urban Outfitters (URBN) and Lululemon Athletica (LULU) had the strongest traffic among softline retailers over the weekend, and Gap (GPS) also experienced heavy traffic.
KeyBanc analyst Jason Gere says department store traffic was lackluster over the weekend but singles out Ulta Beauty (ULTA) as a potential winner. Gere says Ulta has “strong holiday positioning” in what should be a record holiday shopping season.
Finally, in the critical toy market, KeyBanc analyst Brett Andress says Hasbro (HAS) has the momentum over competitor Mattel (MAT). Hasbro’s weekend was boosted by games, Nerf and My Little Pony sales, while Mattel’s limited Barbie success hasn’t make up for lackluster sales in other key brands. Andress says…
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