7 Sweet Spots In Stock Market For Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day is here and people are splurging on gifts. This year, spending is expected to hit the second highest in the 15-year history as Americans are expected to spend an average of $143.56 or a total of $19.6 billion, as per the National Retail Federation’s survey. This is up from $18.2 billion last year but lower than a record $19.7 billion seen in 2016.

About 55% of the population will likely celebrate the day this year with the biggest spending by millennials (25-34 age group). The top spending category will be jewelry ($4.7 billion), an evening out ($3.7 billion), flowers ($2.0 billion), clothing ($1.9 billion), candy ($1.8 billion) and gift cards/gift certificates ($1.5 billion).

Departmental stores will be the hot spot with 35% of consumers likely to visit, followed by discount stores (32%), online (29%), specialty stores (19%), florists (17%) and local small businesses (14%).

Given an uptick in seasonal sales, companies selling the Valentine’s Day products will see a boost in sales and the resultant surge in their stock price. So, hearty investors could show their affection and love to the following stocks in order to exploit the near-term trend.

Tiffany & Co. (NYSE:TIF) designs, manufactures, and retails fine jewelry as well as other branded merchandise. Though the stock saw negative earnings estimate revision of 12 cents over the past month, for the full fiscal (ending January 2019), it is expected to see earnings growth of 4.23%. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) is a global confectionery leader known for bringing goodness to the world with its chocolate, sweets, mints and other snacks. The stock saw positive earnings estimate revision of 15 cents over the past 30 days for this year with an expected earnings growth of 12.61%. It has a Zacks Rank #3.

Dillard's Inc. (NYSE:DDS) operates as fashion apparel, cosmetics and home furnishing retailer in the United States. The company saw solid earnings estimate revision of 30 cents over the past 30 days for the fiscal year (ending January 2019) with an expected earnings growth of 13.04%. It has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

1-800-Flowers.com Inc. (NASDAQ:FLWS) provides gourmet food and floral gifts for various occasions in the United States. The company saw positive earnings estimate revision of 11 cents over the past 30 days for this fiscal year (ending June 2018) with an expected earnings growth of 32.56%. It currently has a Zacks Rank #3.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) engages in the retail sale of consumer products and subscriptions in North America and internationally. It saw solid earnings estimate revision of 23 cents for this year over the past month with an expected whopping growth rate of 86.59%. The stock has a Zacks Rank #3.

Big Lots Inc. (NYSE:BIG) operates as a non-traditional discount retailer in the United States offering a wide range of products under various categories, such as foods, home furnishings, furniture, merchandise and other household items. The company saw positive earnings estimate revision of 17 cents over the past 30 days for fiscal year (ending January 2019) with an expected earnings growth of 15.08%. It currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

BJ's Restaurants Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) owns and operates casual dining restaurants in the United States. Its restaurants offer pizzas, craft and other beers, appetizers, soups, entrees, pastas, sandwiches, salads and desserts. It saw the earnings estimate moved up by a penny over the past month for this year and expects earnings growth of 20.94%. The stocks has a Zacks Rank #2.

Bottom Line

These stocks could see huge gains as the bullish trend for these is likely to hold up this festival of love amid market turmoil.

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