Gap and Ross Stores both reported third-quarter results
Shares of Gap Inc (NYSE:GAP) and Ross Stores Inc (NASDAQ:ROST) are both making outsized moves, after the retail companies posted their quarterly results.
Gap stock was last seen 8.2% higher at $23.84, after the retail name hiked its annual guidance for the third time in 2024. The company now expects fiscal 2024 sales to rise between 1.5% and 2%, well above analysts' 0.4% growth expectations. And while hurricanes and unseasonably warm weather dented sales, Gap beat third-quarter earnings per share and revenue expectations.
On track for its best single-session percentage gain since July, GAP is breaking above its 120-day moving average that has acted as pressure since late-August. The equity now stands 18.9% higher year to date, with a 32.1% year-over-year lead to boot.
Ross Stores stock is 7.5% higher at $153.64 at last glance, even after after the department store chain operator reported third-quarter revenue of $5.07 that fell slightly beneath the consensus Wall Street estimate of $5.15 billion. Meanwhile, earnings of $1.48 per share beat the $1.40 forecast. Despite the mixed results, ROST is rising after its better-than-expected operating margin "more than offset" a declining merchandise margin.
On the charts, ROST is set to clear its 40-day moving average, which rejected a mid-October rally and pressured yesterday's pre-earnings pop from its lowest level since earlier this month. Ross Stores stock is now trading near its mid-September year-to-date highs, and stands 7.6% higher since the start of 2024.
In response, both stocks are seeing higher-than-usual intraday options activity. GAP has already seen 13 times the average volume typically seen at this point in trading, while ROST's typically quiet options pits have seen 17 times the usual amount. For Gap stock, the most popular position is the weekly 11/22 21.50-strike call, and new positions are being sold to open at Ross Stores stock's most popular January 17, 2025 140-strike put.