Last year, the internet retail sub-industry revealed the highest earnings growth at 143.1% for all 13 retail sub-industries, according to FactSet. In contrast, the department store sub-industry reported the largest year-over-year drop in earnings of all 13 retail sub-industries at -47.8%.
IBUY provides exposure to many familiar online names, such as WayFair Inc (NYSE: W), Etsy (NasdaqGS: ETSY), FTD Companies (NasdaqGS: FTD), Overstock Com Inc (NasdaqGS: OSTK) and Priceline (NasdaqGS: PCLN).
IBUY could see some action this week as Amazon.com (NasdaqGS: AMZN) reports fourth-quarter/holiday shopping season earnings after the close of U.S. markets Thursday. Amazon, the largest U.S. e-commerce company, is also an IBUY holding.
“One of the biggest and most obvious macro trends for 2017 is the shift in shopper preference from brick-and-mortar to online retail,” notes Seeking Alpha. “U.S. online retail growth rate from 1999 to 2016 has been a staggering 20% per year! And E-commerce still represents only 8.4% of total retail sales.”
For more information on the retail sector, visit our retail category.