Ross Stores, Inc. (ROST) earnings on August 20, 2026
More Ross Stores, Inc. earnings
Prior outlook: Pessimistic Outcome: Missed
Ross Stores shares jumped after the company reported results, closing up 4.4% after touching a high of 9% during the day. Analysts kept their ratings and raised their price targets, supporting the rise.
ROST price around the earnings
239.04
Change: +4.4%
2026-08-21, 20:00 UTC
- Price: green if it ends above the starting price; red if it ends below
- Start of the measured window
- End of the measured window
- Market open
- No trading (market closed)
- Starting price
Prior thesis
Prior outlook: Pessimistic Outcome: Missed
- Thesis published
- Results released
Cautious outlook, price trend weak
Experts see a mixed picture: the company has beaten earnings expectations for four straight quarters, but the stock has dropped 7.3% in two weeks and a major bank downgraded it. The negative price trend and cautious analyst actions outweigh the strong earnings history, so the outlook is pessimistic.
Context analyzed before publication
- Summary
- Cautious outlook, price trend weak
- Playbook
- The stock is market review below its recent support level, and the price has been falling faster than the broader market. Analyst opinions are split, with one downgrade adding to the negative sentiment.
- Trend
- Expert outlook worsened over the week
Analysts
Drivers
-
Analysts
Neutral
Most analysts still rate the stock positively, but one major bank downgraded it, creating mixed contexts about the company's prospects.
Evidence
- Analyst consensus
- Buy
- Consensus average (1-5)
- 1.8
- Analysts covering the stock
- 18
- Average price target
- 257.5
- Lowest price target
- 176
- Highest price target
- 290
- Upside to price target
- 12.2%
- Quarterly earnings growth
- 35.6%
- Revenue growth
- 20.6%
- Forward EPS
- 8.62
- Trailing EPS
- 7.16
- Analyst moves in the last 60 days
- 3
- Strong buy: 2
- Buy: 12
- Hold: 5
- Sell: 1
- Strong sell: 0
- Strong buy
- 2
- Buy
- 12
- Hold
- 5
- Sell
- 1
- Strong sell
- 0
- August 17, 2026 · Evercore ISI Group: Maintains rating (Outperform → Outperform)
- August 14, 2026 · Telsey Advisory Group: Maintains rating (Outperform → Outperform)
- June 23, 2026 · Wells Fargo: Downgrades rating (Overweight → Equal-Weight)
News and sentiment
Drivers
-
News & sentiment
Negative
The downgrade and upcoming earnings report are creating negative headlines, with no clear positive news to offset the concern.
Evidence
Sentiment
- Sentiment
- Cautious
- Mention volume
- High
- Normalized volume
- 99%
News
Sources (6)
- How To Earn $500 A Month From Ross Stores Stock Ahead Of Q2 Earnings (opens in a new tab) — Benzinga
- Ross Stores Earnings Are Imminent; These Most Accurate Analysts Revise Forecasts Ahead Of Earnings Call (opens in a new tab) — Benzinga
- Walmart Could Swing $41.4 Billion In Value After Earnings (opens in a new tab) — Benzinga
- Evercore ISI Group Maintains Outperform on Ross Stores, Raises Price Target to $276 (opens in a new tab) — Benzinga
- Telsey Advisory Group Maintains Outperform on Ross Stores, Raises Price Target to $280 (opens in a new tab) — Benzinga
- Here’s How Much You Would Have Made Owning Ross Stores Stock In The Last 10 Years (opens in a new tab) — Benzinga
Technicals
Drivers
-
Technical
Negative
The stock has fallen 7.3% in two weeks, while the market rose 2.9%, and it now cases below its nearest support level, indicating a weak price trend.
Evidence
- Price when the context was analyzed
- 234.7
- Average true range (ATR)
- 2.3%
- Distance to 52-week high
- -10.1%
- 14-day change (14d)
- -7.3%
- 30-day change (30d)
- -0.5%
- 30-day relative strength
- -3.4%
- QQQ change (30d)
- +2.9%
- Nearest support
- 232.26
- Distance to nearest support
- 1%
- Nearest resistance
- 234.89
- Distance to nearest resistance
- 0.1%
- Volume accumulation ratio (14d / 46d)
- 1.02
- Mid: 232.26 (1% away, 0.45 ATR, 21 touches)
- Minor: 230.37 (1.8% away, 0.79 ATR, 2 touches)
- Mid: 228.96 (2.5% away, 1.06 ATR, 16 touches)
- Mid: 234.89 (0.1% away, 0.03 ATR, 17 touches)
- Minor: 236.33 (0.7% away, 0.3 ATR, 9 touches)
- Mid: 239.29 (2% away, 0.84 ATR, 12 touches)
Trends
Evidence
- Average earnings surprise
- +8.7%
- May 21, 2026: actual EPS 2.02 vs estimate 1.73 (surprise +16.7%)
- March 3, 2026: actual EPS 2 vs estimate 1.9 (surprise +5.1%)
- November 20, 2025: actual EPS 1.58 vs estimate 1.42 (surprise +11.4%)
- August 21, 2025: actual EPS 1.56 vs estimate 1.54 (surprise +1.4%)
Expected move
Drivers
-
Past earnings
Positive
ROST has beaten earnings expectations for four straight quarters, with an average surprise of +8.7% and a recent +16.7% beat, showing strong business execution.
- Implied move
- +9.5%
- Source
- Options chain
Reactions over its last 20 earnings
- Median move
- 5.4%
- 75th percentile move
- 8.2%
- 90th percentile move
- 9.8%
- Up / down moves
- 13 / 7
- Average up move
- +5.2%
- Average down move
- -6.2%
Monitoring and close
What Ross Stores, Inc. reported
- Status
- Finished
| Actual EPS | 2.66 |
|---|---|
| EPS estimate | 1.94 |
| EPS surprise | +37.1% |
| Revenue | $6,265 million |
| Revenue estimate | $6,180 million |
| Revenue surprise | +1.4% |
Ross Stores beat Q2 expectations and raised annual guidance, an optimistic outlook versus Walmart's drop to a nine-month low.
Sources (8)
- Ross Stores Posts Double Beat in Q2, Raises 2026 Earnings Guidance (opens in a new tab) — Benzinga
- Dow Giant Walmart Sinks To A 9-Month Low; Ross Stores Stock Jumps (opens in a new tab) — Investor's Business Daily
- Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Posts Better-Than-Expected Sales In Q2 CY2026 (opens in a new tab) — StockStory
- Ross Stores Sees Q4 GAAP EPS $2.17-$2.26 vs $2.12 Est (opens in a new tab) — Benzinga
- Ross Stores Sees Q3 GAAP EPS $1.75-$1.83 vs $1.73 Est (opens in a new tab) — Benzinga
- Ross Stores Raises FY2026 GAAP EPS Guidance from $7.50-$7.74 to $8.61-$8.77 vs $7.79 Est (opens in a new tab) — Benzinga
- Ross Stores beat expectations with EPS of $2.66 and revenue of $6.265 billion, above estimates. — Benzinga
- Ross Stores Q2 EPS $2.66 Beats $1.94 Estimate, Sales $6.265B Beat $6.180B Estimate (opens in a new tab) — Benzinga
Pre-market second reading after the results
- Verdict
- Beat expectations
Heading into the open, results beat expectations on both earnings and revenue, and the price is indicating +7.6% pre-market, a move in line with the stock's usual reaction (about 5%). The figures overturn the prior pessimistic scenario. Across our market history, in the 1,470 similar cases, the close held that direction 96% of the time.
How the stock reacted
- Outcome
- Missed
- Consolidated
- +4.4%
- Max favorable move (MFE)
- 0.1%
- Max adverse move (MAE)
- 9%