Gone are the days when Halloween used to be a spooky event. Halloween is also no more specific to kids dressing up as ghosts and ghouls, and trick-or-treating. It is more of a party event now.
In fact, 18 to 24 year-old consumers are most likely to celebrate Halloween, with nearly nine in 10 taking part in it this year, up from 84% a decade ago, per nrf.com. Needless to say, the event creates solid business opportunities.
Inside Halloween Spending This Year
National Retail Federation has estimated that Americans will likely spend a staggering $8.8 billion on Halloween candy, costumes and decorations this year. However, the momentum has slowed of late as the last two years saw at least $9 billion in spending. About 15% said tariff concerns will disturb their Halloween plans.
About 95% will likely shell out around $2.6 billion on candies. As much as 67% of consumers will spend about $3.2 billion on costumes and 72% of consumers will likely go for buying decorations worth $2.7 billion. About one-third will throw or attend a Halloween party, 29% will take children trick-or-treating and 17% will get their pets to don Halloween costume, per NRF. Needless to say, retail sales will be on a roll in the upcoming days and put the following ETFs and stocks in focus.
ETF Picks
VanEck Vectors Retail ETF (TSXV:RTH)
Several discount retailers like Costco (NASDAQ:COST) , Ross (NASDAQ:ROST) , Dollar General (NYSE:DG) and Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) have solid exposure to this fund. Notably, 42% of respondents told NRF they will hit department stores and 25% will head grocery stores and 23% will shop at departmental stores, making this broader retail ETF a perfect buy for Halloween (read: Top-Ranked Sector ETFs to Buy for Q4).
Global X Social Media ETF (CM:SOCL)
Consumers normally will look for perfect costume idea online. Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and YouTube are some of platforms where people search for Halloween ideas. About 48% of Millennials have purchased Halloween items to share them on social media posts. So, online ETF SOCL is highly in focus now (read: Should You Buy Facebook Ahead of Q3 Earnings?).
ProShares Pet Care ETF PAWZ
NRF projects total planned spending for pet costumes at $490 million this year, more than double the figure recorded in 2010. This very well makes PAWZ a buy. The fund consists of U.S. and international companies that potentially stand to benefit from interest in, and resources spent on, pet ownership (read: ProShares Brings Pet-Friendly ETF).
Stock Picks
Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG)
Discount stores are busy destinations for Halloween shopping. Dollar General is one of the largest discount retailers in the United States. The stock has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) with a VGM Score of B, at the time of writing. It comes from a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 11%).
Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)
Candy and chocolate sales are hot leading up to Halloween. The Zacks Rank #2 company is the largest chocolate manufacturer in North America as well as a global leader in chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery. It comes from a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 1%).
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
With all the celebration around, who can get forget Amazon – a hot destination of online shopping for costumes, home decor and candies? Though the stock has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), it comes from a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 22%).
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Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN): Free Stock Analysis Report
Global X Social Media ETF (SOCL): ETF Research Reports
VanEck Vectors Retail ETF (RTH): ETF Research Reports
Hershey Company (The) (HSY): Free Stock Analysis Report
Dollar General Corporation (DG): Free Stock Analysis Report
Ross Stores, Inc. (ROST): Free Stock Analysis Report
Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST): Free Stock Analysis Report
Walmart Inc. (WMT): Free Stock Analysis Report
ProShares Pet Care ETF (PAWZ): ETF Research Reports
Original post
Zacks Investment Research