TJX

The TJX Companies Raises Fiscal 2026 Outlook

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Image Source: TradingView By Brian Nelson, CFA The TJX Companies (TJX) recently reported third quarter fiscal 2026 results that beat on both the top and bottom lines. The off-price apparel and home fashions retailer posted net sales for the third quarter of $15.1 billion, an increase of 7% versus the same period of fiscal 2025. Third quarter consolidated comparable sales increased 5%, well above the company’s plan and above consensus of 3.6%. Also above the company’s plan were third quarter pretax profit margin and diluted earnings per share of $1.28, up 12%. Management had the following to say about the results: I am extremely pleased with our third quarter performance and the excellent execution of our off-price business model by … Read more

Thinking Slow: 3 Research Blind Spots That Changed the Investment World

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Dear members: — Daniel Kahneman in his text Thinking, Fast and Slow (1) divided the human psyche into two systems. The first system is instinctive and emotional, often set on autopilot, while the second system is slower and more logical, requiring a calculating conscious. Many of the maxims the investment world takes for granted today suffer from conclusions that are made rapidly, almost without thinking, driven by our first system, creating what I call research blind spots. — In World War II, Allied bombing raids were suffering from very high casualty rates. It was estimated that for those pilots that were flying at the beginning of the war, only about 10% survived, a terrible loss rate. Bombing was crucial to the Allied … Read more

TJX Companies Is a Standout in Retail

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Image Source: TradingView By Brian Nelson, CFA TJX Companies (TJX) recently reported better than expected second quarter fiscal 2026 results. The off-price apparel and home fashions retailer posted consolidated comparable store sales growth of 4%, which was above the company’s target. Comparable store sales growth at Marmaxx was 3%, HomeGoods came in at 5%, TJX Canada was 9%, while TJX International came in at 5%. Net sales for the second quarter were $14.4 billion, an increase of 7% versus the second quarter of last year. Its pre-tax profit margin in the quarter of 11.4% increased 0.5 percentage points over last year and was also above its plan. Second quarter diluted earnings per share of $1.10 was up 15% and well … Read more

3 Undervalued Stocks to Consider Buying Now

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Dear readers:   With the markets retracing most of their recent drawdown, we’re taking a victory lap as we didn’t panic, nor should have you. We highlighted our wait-and-see approach amidst the worst of the pullback, and we expect the Magnificent 7 (large cap growth and big cap tech) to continue to propel the markets higher, as they have done.   We’ve been busy rolling valuation models as we finetune our assumptions for a great number of companies under coverage. While doing so, we came across three undervalued stocks that are also included in the simulated newsletter portfolios. We think they’re prime for highlight.   The three stocks are UnitedHealth Group (UNH), Nvidia (NVDA) and Alphabet (GOOG). We spend a lot of time on discounted cash-flow valuation, … Read more

Magnificent 7 Earnings Reports Not Bad Thus Far

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By Brian Nelson, CFA   Shortly after Trump’s Liberation Day, where the President unveiled lofty tariffs on numerous countries, we released our wait-and-see outlook for the equity markets, which thus far has proven to be the right move, with the markets largely recovering from the depths reached in April. The S&P 500 (SPY), for example, is down just 3.3% year-to-date, excluding dividends.   A lot has happened since Liberation Day, including easing of tariffs to a 10% baseline for most, if not all, countries, with the key exception of China, where tariffs remain extremely elevated and prohibitive. Many countries are now reportedly negotiating trade agreements with the White House, and we expect China to be added to that list soon, even if … Read more

Trump Tariffs Higher than Expected; What We’re Doing

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By Brian Nelson, CFA The Trump tariff increases came in larger than what we were expecting, and it remains to be seen how they will flow through the global economy, as we monitor potential retaliatory tariffs from other countries. As it relates to the equity markets, we’re taking a wait and see approach at the moment as we monitor new policy changes related to trade, immigration, fiscal (tax), and regulations. In short, we’re not overreacting to the sell off as we won’t have a great handle on the tariff impact to companies for a few quarters when they report results post-tariff increases. That said, we’re expecting continued market volatility, with meaningful risk to the downside, before trade uncertainty alleviates in … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of April 4

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending April 4. The dividend reports of covered firms on this list will be updated shortly with the new information. To access our dividend reports use the ‘Symbol’ search box in our website header. Firms Raising Their Dividends This Week                          Adecoagro (AGRO): now $0.175 per share semi-annual dividend, was $0.174. Banco Santander (SAN): now EUR 0.1100 per share final dividend, was $0.1152. Bank OZK (OZK): now $0.43 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.42. Brookfield Renewable Power Preferred Equity Inc. PREF SHS CL A 2 (BRF.PR.B:CA): now CAD 0.3318 per share quarterly dividend. Compass Diversified Holdings Non-Cum Red Pfd Registered Series A (CODI.PR.A): now $0.4532 … Read more

An Important Measure of Leverage for Dividend-Growth and Income-Oriented Shareholders, One That Is Dividend-Adjusted

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As more and more investors rely on company dividends for income, dividends, in our view, have become more debt-like commitments in nature, especially from the perspective of dividend-growth or income-oriented shareholders. Years ago, we rolled out a measure of financial leverage that considers both the company’s debt and the present value of its future expected cash dividend obligations, which, in the eyes of die-hard dividend-growth or income-oriented shareholders, may be implicitly assumed to be debt-like commitments in substance. We think this leverage ratio can be used in conjunction with the Dividend Cushion ratio to gain additional insight into the dividend-paying financial health of an entity. Note: There is often great confusion with respect to published measures of financial leverage, and … Read more

TJX Companies Boosts Profit Guidance

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Image: TJX’s stock has been on a tear over the past couple years. By Brian Nelson, CFA TJX Companies (TJX) reported better-than-expected second quarter fiscal 2025 results August 21 that showed a revenue beat and non-GAAP earnings per share outpacing the consensus estimate. Net sales increased 6% thanks to consolidated comparable store sales increasing 4% as a result of increased customer transactions, which was above the consensus forecast for comps to experience 2.8% growth. Its second-quarter pre-tax profit margin of 10.9% was 0.5 percentage points ahead of last year’s mark thanks to lower freight costs and stronger sales. Second-quarter diluted earnings per share of $0.96 was up 13% from the same period a year ago. Its comparable store sales growth, … Read more

Paper: Value and Momentum Within Stocks, Too

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Please select the image below to download, “Value and Momentum Within Stocks, Too:” Abstract: This paper strives to advance the field of finance in four ways: 1) it extends the theory of the “The Arithmetic of Active Management” to the investor level; 2) it addresses certain data problems of factor-based methods, namely with respect to value and book-to-market ratios, while introducing price-to-fair-value ratios in a factor-based approach; 3) it may lay the foundation for academic literature regarding the Valuentum, the value-timing, and ultra-momentum factors; and 4) it walks through the potential relative outperformance that may be harvested at the intersection of relevant, unique and compensated factors within individual stocks. To download the full report, please click here (pdf). ———- Actual results … Read more