Exchange traded funds tracking the consumer discretionary sector lagged the market Wednesday after Family Dollar’s (NYSE: FDO) earnings missed expectations and the firm scaled back its full-year outlook.
The deep discount retailer reported higher quarterly profit but the results fell short of Wall Street forecasts. Family Dollar shares fell 3% on Wednesday.
“While we expect some weakness today, shares could prove somewhat resilient reflecting activist shareholder activity,” Jefferies analysts said in a note.
Other analysts are bullish on the dollar stores as they introduce new food products and basic groceries. They are “attracting and retaining higher income customers with increasing debit and credit card acceptance, higher quality merchandise, and store remodels,” Standard & Poor’s Equity Research said in a recent report on the sector.