TJX Cos., the nation's largest off-price retailer, kicks off earnings for the group on Wednesday, at a time when shoppers are hungry for bargains.

Consensus calls for TJX to earn $1.19 a share, two pennies above the high end of the company's guidance and 8% higher than the year-ago period. Revenue is expected to climb 5% to $15.2 billion.

TJX, which owns TJ Maxx, along with other brands including Home Goods and Marshalls, is the biggest player in the off-price space, a growing part of retail that thrives on the treasure-hunt model of ever-changing inventory that brings value-conscious customers back regularly to physical stores, with minimal online presence.

Inflation remains a potential problem for TJX, as it does for many other retailers, but at the same time that's incentivized Americans to be even more value-conscious. That's a point in TJX's favor, and it tends to attract more higher income customers, who are less squeezed by recent cost of living increases.

Eighty percent of the 25 analysts tracked by FactSet are bullish on TJX, with an average price target of $180, nearly 20% higher than where the stock stands today.