Ross Stores (ROST) Fell Due to Macroeconomic Concerns

Madison Investments, an investment advisor, released its “Madison Mid Cap Fund” first-quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the first quarter, the fund (Class I) decreased 4.15% compared to the 3.40% decrease for the Russell Midcap Index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.

In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, Madison Mid Cap Fund highlighted stocks such as Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST). Headquartered in Dublin, California, Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) is an off-price fashion and apparel retailer. The one-month return of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) was 7.62%, and its shares gained 3.61% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On April 22, 2025, Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) stock closed at $137.89 per share with a market capitalization of $44.55 billion.

Madison Mid Cap Fund stated the following regarding Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:

“The bottom five detractors for the quarter were Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST), Gartner, MKS Instruments, Arista Networks, and Thor Industries. Ross Stores lagged largely on macroeconomic concerns. While sales and profits from their most recent quarter were good, investors are worried about a slowdown in discretionary spending among Ross’ customer base. While this is certainly possible, we believe that Ross’ flexible business model and strong value proposition position the company well for whatever economic climate develops.”

Is Ross Stores, Inc. (ROST) the Best Counter Cyclical Stock to Buy According to Analysts?

A close-up of a mannequin outfitted with the company’s latest collection of apparel.

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. Our database shows that 62 hedge fund portfolios held Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) at the end of the fourth quarter, compared to 55 in the third quarter. Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) reported sales of $5.9 billion in the fourth quarter 2024, achieving a 3% increase in comparable store sales. While we acknowledge the potential of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

In another article, we covered Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) and shared the list of best retail stocks to buy. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.