In 2019, retail sales rose 3.6%, after about 5% gain in 2018 which marked the biggest increase in six years driven by the tailwind of tax cuts. The month of December, which is all-important to retailers due to the holiday season, saw a 0.3% sequential gain, after an upwardly revised 0.3% rise in the previous month and matching market expectations.
Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few ETF areas that may benefit from the spending pattern in the year 2019.
Gainers
Online Stores
Online and mail-order retail trade jumped 0.2% sequentially in December and 19.2% year over year. In the whole of 2019, sales surged 13.1% year over year.
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN - Free Report)
The Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company is one of the largest online retailers. Its division Amazon Web Services (AWS) has become a dominant name in the cloud-computing market (read: ETFs to Tap on Amazon's Record Holiday Sales).
Amplify Online Retail ETF (IBUY - Free Report)
The underlying EQM Online Retail Index utilizes a rules-based methodology to select a globally diverse group of companies with 70% or more of online and virtual sales. The fund charges 65 bps in fees (read: Shop Online ETFs & Stocks for Black Friday & Beyond).
Food Services & Drinking Places
Sales at these places grew 0.2% sequentially in December and were up 4.9% year over year. In 2019, sales surged 4.4% to about $770 billion.
Denny's Corporation (DENN - Free Report)
This is one of the largest restaurant companies, operating in moderately priced restaurants. It comes from a favorable Zacks industry (placed at the top 36% of 250+ industries) (read: 6 Sector ETFs & Stocks to Watch on December U.S. Inflation).
Invesco Dynamic Leisure And Entertainment ETF (PEJ - Free Report)
The fund bets on a host of restaurant and entertainment companies. It has a Zacks Rank #3.
Food & Beverage Stores
Spending at food and beverage stores, which are primarily grocery stores, jumped 3% year over year to $777.0 billion in 2019. Sales from these stores gained 04% sequentially and 3.7% year over year.
The Kroger Co. (KR - Free Report)
The Zacks Rank #3 company is one of the nation’s largest grocery retailers. It comes from a favorable Zacks industry (top 20%).
Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP - Free Report)
The Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) fund tracks the consumer staples sector of the S&P 500 Index. Beverages account for about 26% of the fund while 19.2% weight goes to Food & Staples Retailing and 17.9% weight is allocated to Food Products (read: A Look Back At S&P 500 Sector ETFs in 2019).
Health & Personal Care Stores
Spending at health and personal care stores rose 0.4% sequentially in December and was up 3.8% year over year. Sales gained 3.1% in 2019.
Procter & Gamble Company (PG - Free Report)
It is a branded consumer products company which markets its products primarily through mass merchandisers, grocery stores, drug stores, department stores, distributors, baby stores, specialty beauty stores. The stock has a Zacks Rank #2.
The Obesity ETF
The underlying Solactive Obesity Index tracks the performance of global companies focusing on obesity-related diseases, weight-loss programs, weight-loss supplements and plus-sized apparel.
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Zacks Names "Single Best Pick to Double"
From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.
It’s a little-known chemical company that’s up 65% over last year, yet still dirt cheap. With unrelenting demand, soaring 2022 earnings estimates, and $1.5 billion for repurchasing shares, retail investors could jump in at any time.
This company could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in little more than 9 months and NVIDIA which boomed +175.9% in one year.
Free: See Our Top Stock and 4 Runners Up >>
In 2019, retail sales rose 3.6%, after about 5% gain in 2018 which marked the biggest increase in six years driven by the tailwind of tax cuts. The month of December, which is all-important to retailers due to the holiday season, saw a 0.3% sequential gain, after an upwardly revised 0.3% rise in the previous month and matching market expectations.
Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few ETF areas that may benefit from the spending pattern in the year 2019.
Gainers
Online Stores
Online and mail-order retail trade jumped 0.2% sequentially in December and 19.2% year over year. In the whole of 2019, sales surged 13.1% year over year.
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN - Free Report)
The Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company is one of the largest online retailers. Its division Amazon Web Services (AWS) has become a dominant name in the cloud-computing market (read: ETFs to Tap on Amazon's Record Holiday Sales).
Amplify Online Retail ETF (IBUY - Free Report)
The underlying EQM Online Retail Index utilizes a rules-based methodology to select a globally diverse group of companies with 70% or more of online and virtual sales. The fund charges 65 bps in fees (read: Shop Online ETFs & Stocks for Black Friday & Beyond).
Food Services & Drinking Places
Sales at these places grew 0.2% sequentially in December and were up 4.9% year over year. In 2019, sales surged 4.4% to about $770 billion.
Denny's Corporation (DENN - Free Report)
This is one of the largest restaurant companies, operating in moderately priced restaurants. It comes from a favorable Zacks industry (placed at the top 36% of 250+ industries) (read: 6 Sector ETFs & Stocks to Watch on December U.S. Inflation).
Invesco Dynamic Leisure And Entertainment ETF (PEJ - Free Report)
The fund bets on a host of restaurant and entertainment companies. It has a Zacks Rank #3.
Food & Beverage Stores
Spending at food and beverage stores, which are primarily grocery stores, jumped 3% year over year to $777.0 billion in 2019. Sales from these stores gained 04% sequentially and 3.7% year over year.
The Kroger Co. (KR - Free Report)
The Zacks Rank #3 company is one of the nation’s largest grocery retailers. It comes from a favorable Zacks industry (top 20%).
Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP - Free Report)
The Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) fund tracks the consumer staples sector of the S&P 500 Index. Beverages account for about 26% of the fund while 19.2% weight goes to Food & Staples Retailing and 17.9% weight is allocated to Food Products (read: A Look Back At S&P 500 Sector ETFs in 2019).
Health & Personal Care Stores
Spending at health and personal care stores rose 0.4% sequentially in December and was up 3.8% year over year. Sales gained 3.1% in 2019.
Procter & Gamble Company (PG - Free Report)
It is a branded consumer products company which markets its products primarily through mass merchandisers, grocery stores, drug stores, department stores, distributors, baby stores, specialty beauty stores. The stock has a Zacks Rank #2.
The Obesity ETF
The underlying Solactive Obesity Index tracks the performance of global companies focusing on obesity-related diseases, weight-loss programs, weight-loss supplements and plus-sized apparel.
Want key ETF info delivered straight to your inbox?
Zacks’ free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, each week. Get it free >>
Zacks Names "Single Best Pick to Double"
From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.
It’s a little-known chemical company that’s up 65% over last year, yet still dirt cheap. With unrelenting demand, soaring 2022 earnings estimates, and $1.5 billion for repurchasing shares, retail investors could jump in at any time.
This company could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in little more than 9 months and NVIDIA which boomed +175.9% in one year.
Free: See Our Top Stock and 4 Runners Up >>
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