4 Retail Sector Stocks Keep Making New Highs (But Not The ETF)

The exchange traded fund that reflects the price movements of a host of retail stocks hit a new high in November but failed to make it quite that high in December. Certain individual retail equities, on the other hand, found a way to keep going and then established the higher highs.

No one disputes the value of diversity when it comes to buying stocks but the investor who can discern which might be better than others could come out ahead. With that in mind, here is the retail ETF chart — and the charts of four individual names that have outperformed it lately.

4 Retail Stocks Outperforming The Retail ETF

SPDR S&P Retail ETF (NYSE: XRT)

First, the underperforming fund:

The retail fund with 80 holdings took off in November, couldn’t make the new high in December and dropped to the 50-day moving average before bouncing. How the holiday revenue numbers come in will be interesting but it looks as if expectations for the sector in general might be coming down a bit.

Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE: BBW)

This is what is meant by “outperforming.” The stock went ahead and made it up to a new high this month, no problem. There has been no significant dip down toward the 50-day moving average. You can see how different this is than the pattern for the SPDR Retail ETF.

The specialty retail company is relatively lightly traded with an average daily volume of 266,000 shares. Build-A-Bear Workshop has a market capitalization of $610 million. It’s a Russell 2000 component. Some people don’t like it: the short float is 10.03%, on the high side.

Dillards (NYSE: DDS)

The 50-day moving average crossed above the 200-day moving average in mid-December, thought to be a bullish kind of signal. The breakout above the July high came this month and buyers really came in at that point.

The department store chain has a market cap of $7.26 billion. This is another one that’s lightly traded: average daily volume is 144,000 shares. With a short float of 14%, it’s likely that a good portion of this move came from shorts rushing to get covered.

Tapestry (NYSE: TPR)

The late December high is higher than the late November high as designated on this chart by the red dotted line. The 50-day moving average crossed above the 200-day moving average in early October, a sign of bullishness to come. From the August low to the recent high is almost a double.

Tapestry is a luxury goods outfit whose brands include Coach, Kate Spade New York and Stuart Weitzman. Market cap is $15.28 billion. The company pays a dividend of 2.14%.

Urban Outfitters (NYSE: URBN)

The late November gap up took the price above the previous price resistance from July of $49. Unlike the movement of the retail ETF, this one just kept making new highs in December. The 50-day moving average crossed above the 200-day moving average mid-month.

The short float is 10.43% — this is another of the retail stocks that may be benefitting from shorts being forced to cover their positions.

Urban Outfitters is a retail apparel business with a market cap of $5.16 billion. The stock is a component of the Russell 2000. Brands include Anthropologie, Menus and Venues and Urban Outfitters.

Stats courtesy of FinViz.com. Charts courtesy of Stockcharts.com.

More analysis and commentary at johnnavin.substack.com.