Ross Stores: Don’t Blame JC Penney

After volatile trading this morning following its earnings release, Ross Stores (ROST) has headed higher this afternoon.

Ross Stores reported a first-quarter profit of $1.15 per share, meeting analyst forecasts, though sales of $2.68 billion missed forecasts for $2.69 billion. Same-store sales rose 1%, which was at the bottom of the range Ross Stores had provided earlier. Ross also raised the low-end of its full year guidance.

MKM Partners‘ Patrick McKeever says don’t blame JC Penney (JCP) for Ross Stores’ less-than-blockbuster results:

Same-store sales increased 1%, which is commendable in the context of all the negative comps across the apparel space, but it was a bit disappointing for Ross, which has shown greater outperformance in recent years. While there’s some concern about JC Penney’s return to sales growth and increased promotional intensity, we do not believe this has been a significant factor for Ross, just as we don’t think Ross saw much benefit during JC Penney’s near implosion. Accordingly, we view this, at most, as a marginal issue.

Cowen’s John Kernan and Jerry Gray think the second half of the year will be better for Ross as it takes advantage of weakness at Sears (SHLD):

We see Ross Stores’ same-store sales potentially accelerating into the 2H of 2014 as the retail traffic environment normalizes and inventory overhangs decline at competitors. Aside from JCPenney’s one quarter of resurgence, the mid-tier department store channel remains a share donator, and we see weakness and store closures at Sears and Kmart as market share and real estate opportunity for Ross Stores. We note Sears and K-Mart have a $9.5B apparel and soft goods business.

Shares of Ross Stores have gained 1% to $68.77 today after dropping as much as 0.4% earlier this morning. Sears has dropped 1.3% to $37.59, while JC Penney has gained 1% to $8.96.