Nordstrom, Inc. (JWN), Saks Inc (SKS): The Rich Are Still Spending And Boosting These Retailers

The rich love his clothes

The rich can’t seem to get enough of Ralph Lauren Corp (NYSE:RL)’s clothes. They love how they look in his clothes and the image his clothes portray with his famous Polo horse symbol. That has benefited Ralph Lauren Corp (NYSE:RL) stock and kept the company churning out profits no matter how bad the economy got.

In the company’s latest earnings report, Ralph Lauren missed on revenues, but beat on earnings per share. Margins increased across the board. Even though sales were slightly off, the company did a great job controlling costs and increasing margins. Earnings per share came in at $1.41, whereas expectations were for only $1.30.

The weakness in sales for Ralph Lauren came from a weak Europe. Sales were also lower because of the discounted American Living brand, which J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) used to sell. Ralph Lauren does see business picking up later in the year, and forecast revenues to rise 4% to 7% overall this year.

How they all stack up

Foolish assessment

All five companies have impressive gross margins that any company would love to have. They are able to maintain these gross margins because their loyal customer base is not affected by the economy. Sales and earnings have continued to be strong for these five stocks. Hopefully a Fool can get rich by investing where the rich love to shop.

Mark Yagalla has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Coach. The Motley Fool owns shares of Coach.

The article The Rich Are Still Spending And Boosting These Retailers originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Mark Yagalla.

Mark is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.

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