Strong labor market, rising disposable income, elevated consumer sentiment and strategic efforts are working in tandem for PriceSmart, Inc. (PSMT Quick QuotePSMT - Free Report) in a tough retail landscape. This San Diego, CA-based company registered comparable sales growth of 3.1% for five-week period ended Jun 3, 2018. This follows an increase of 1.9%, 3.5%, 4.4% and 0.5% for April, March, February and January, respectively.

Meanwhile, net warehouse club sales for the month of May rose 6.2% year over year to $248.7 million. The company had recorded sales increase of 1.6%, 8.9%, 6.6% and 6.2% in April, March, February and January, respectively.

For the nine months ended May 31, 2018, net sales jumped 5.1% to $2,312.2 million. Further, comparable warehouse club sales were up 3% for the 39-week period compared with the year-ago period.

The decent comparable sales performance has helped this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock to increase 8% compared with the Retail-Discount Stores industry’s gain of 9% in the past three months. Moreover, we note that in a month the stock has improved 6.5%, outperforming the industry’s gain of 5%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

PriceSmart, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

PriceSmart, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | PriceSmart, Inc. Quote

The industry, to which PriceSmart belongs, occupies a space in the bottom 31% (176 out of 256) among the Zacks industries. The industry of late has been bearing the brunt of heightened online competition thanks to Amazon (AMZN Quick QuoteAMZN - Free Report) , lower footfall and changing consumer spending patterns. These headwinds have compelled retailers to re-examine their strategies. They are now focusing more on enhancing omni-channel capabilities, optimizing store fleet and restructuring activities.
Apart from PriceSmart, retailers such as L Brands and Costco (COST Quick QuoteCOST - Free Report) recently released comparable sales data for May. While L Brands reported comparable sales growth of 5%, Costco registered 11.7% increase.

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