By Kelly Cloonan

Ross Stores recorded higher sales in its latest quarter as traffic picked up, with the company citing a growing base of shoppers.

"We're very encouraged that we are seeing nice customer count growth," Chief Executive Jim Conroy said during a call with analysts.

The off-price retailer's new customers span a range of income levels and ages, including younger customers ages 18 to 34 years old, Conroy said. Those shoppers have helped the performance of the company's juniors and young men's business, he said.

Conroy attributed the customer growth to Ross's efforts to improve merchandising with more brands. He also pointed to success with new marketing campaigns, which have led to higher levels of customer awareness and engagement, he said.

Ross expects its strength to continue in the current quarter, which it said is off to a strong start. That marks a stark contrast to the start of last year, when broad consumer uncertainty and tariffs sapped demand.

"We're in the inverse position we were last year where we started off very, very weak," Chief Operating Officer Michael Hartshorn said.

The stock rose 6%, to $209.23, in after-hours trading. Through market close, shares have gained 44% over the past 12 months.

Ross posted a profit of $645.9 million, or $2 a share, for the fiscal fourth quarter, compared with $586.8 million, or $1.79 a share, a year earlier. Analysts expected $1.90 a share, according to FactSet.

Revenue increased 12% to $6.64 billion, compared with analyst estimates of $6.42 billion.

Same-store sales rose 9%. Analysts expected 5.1% growth.

Conroy said each of the retailer's major merchandise categories had positive sales growth in the quarter, with particularly strong performance in shoes and cosmetics, and it recorded growth in every region of the country with outsized gains in the Midwest and mountain regions.

For the current quarter, Ross Stores expects earnings per share of $1.60 to $1.67 on same-store sales growth of 7% to 8%. Analysts were looking for earnings of $1.63 a share and same-stores sales growth of 3.9%.

For the fiscal year ahead, the company guided for earnings per share of $7.02 to $7.36 and same-store sales up 3% to 4%. Analysts are projecting earnings of $7.22 a share and same-store sales growth of 3.1%.

Ross Stores also said its board approved a new two-year $2.55 billion stock repurchase authorization for fiscal 2026 and 2027.

The company also increased its dividend by 10%, to 44.5 cents a share. The new payout, equal to $1.78 a year, represents an annual yield of about 0.9% based on Tuesday's closing price of $197.64. The dividend is payable March 31 to stockholders of record on March 13, the company said.

Write to Kelly Cloonan at kelly.cloonan@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 03, 2026 18:16 ET (23:16 GMT)

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