Shares of Ross Stores (Nasdaq: ROST) are up about 8% following a positive second quarter earnings report.
The California-based retail department store chain saw its quarterly sales rise 13% year-over-year (YOY) to $6.26 billion. Its same-store sales were similarly up 10% YOY, something the company attributes to higher traffic.
In the report, published Thursday, Ross said it was updating its store expansion plan to 115 new stores in 2026, up from 110, with 47 of those locations having opened during the last quarter.
The company also increased its forecast earnings per share to between $8.61 and $8.77, from $7.50 to $7.74.
The forecast includes a boost per share of 60 cents thanks to government tariff refunds.
Ross is the latest retailer to get a tariff refund
In its latest report, Ross disclosed that it had received $253 million in tariff refunds. It joins fellow retailers like Target and Walmart in receiving these payments following the Supreme Court’s February decision to rule President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs as illegal.
The refund helped fuel $1.1 billion in operating profits for the quarter, up from $638.27 million a year ago.
While Walmart emphasized it would use the refunds toward “price investments,” Ross CEO Jim Conroy seems to view that as unnecessary.
In a post-earnings call, Conroy claimed that Ross had spent the last year “hesitant” to pass the cost of tariffs to the customer in the first place, instead absorbing the impact.
“I think a lot of other retailers took a different position in trying to pass that along and [are now] reversing course,” said Conroy. “We’ve tried to maintain a little bit more stability.” He noted that the company would likely lower its prices if it didn’t view itself as already having competitive costs.
However, Conroy added that there will still be “modest” price increases throughout the year, similar to “the same sort of levels that we’re seeing now.”
Even before this morning’s rise, Ross’s stock price was up more than 25% year to date and more than 57% over the last 12 months.