The Portfolio Selector features the Argus Focus List, a group of 30 "best idea" stocks generated and regularly updated by Argus' analysts and investment policy committee. It also includes the director of research’s monthly investment strategy column, stock recommendations and sector picks, economic forecasts, and an asset allocation model. This month, the Focus List additions are United Therapeutics Corp (UTHR); Broadcom Inc (AVGO); Palo Alto Networks Inc (PANW); Costco Wholesale Corp (COST) and the Focus List deletions are Walmart Inc (WMT); Itron Inc. (ITRI); Micron Technology Inc. (MU); Intuitive Surgical Inc (ISRG).

The back-to-school shopping season has just ended. In a blink, we'll be shopping for the holidays. That's should add up to a lot of shopping - but we'll see how secure consumers are feeling about their finances. Shopping patterns offer great insight into the state of consumers, who are the backbone of the U.S. economy (accounting for two-thirds of GDP). It's still a little early for some of the bigger industry groups to put out their holiday estimates, but we do have some data points to consider. Overall, the National Retail Federation expects retail sales to increase 2.5%-3.5% for the entire year. Stastista expects a 4% increase in holiday sales for 2024 compared to 2023. eMarketer forecasts a healthy 4.8% rise in holiday sales compared to last year. Salesforce predicts a 2% increase in 2024 holiday sales, which is still growing but at a slower pace than the 3% logged last year. In sum, consumer spending growth could be between 2%-5% this holiday period. Meanwhile, Forbes notes the following particulars about this upcoming holiday season: 1) it is shortened, with only 27 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas; 2) past presidential election years have shown a dip in spending leading up to and following the election; and 3) Walmart and Amazon account for roughly 38% of total retail growth, presenting a challenge for other retailers. The following is a list of BUY-rated stocks in Argus' Universe of Coverage. These represent companies that are leaders in the retail industry. Some of these stocks are also in various Argus portfolios.

Walmart serves as the preeminent retailer in the United States, with its strategy predicated on superior operating efficiency and offering the lowest priced goods to consumers to drive robust store traffic and product turnover. Walmart augmented its low-price business strategy by offering a convenient one-stop shopping destination with the opening of its first supercenter in 1988. Today, Walmart operates over 4,600 stores in the United States (5,200 including Sam’s Club) and over 10,000 stores globally. Walmart generated over $440 billion in domestic namesake sales in fiscal 2024, with Sam’s Club contributing another $86 billion to the company's top line. Internationally, Walmart generated $115 billion in sales. The retailer serves around 240 million customers globally each week.

When management at a company raises guidance, it can be a catalyst for market-beating returns in the quarters ahead. The second-quarter earnings season is wrapping up, with blended earnings (actual results and the consensus for those still to report) showing a year-over-year gain of 12%, according to Refinitiv. That is considerably better than what was expected at the start of the earnings period. Leading the outperformance are strong gains in Financial, with earnings up 20%. On the flipside, Materials is performing the worst, down 6%. Our analysts are always on the lookout for companies that boost their outlooks during earnings season. Here is a partial list of BUY-rated companies in Argus' Fundamental Universe of Coverage at which management raised guidance or increased its outlook during the 2Q24 EPS reporting season. We like this theme, as it crosses numerous industries and generates a robust list of potential portfolio candidates.