March sales are fresh signal that U.S. consumers are back

U.S. retailers' March sales exceeded already heightened expectations and rose to a record high, another sign that U.S. shoppers are back spending beyond what they need.

From high-end retailers Saks Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!sks/quotes/nls/sks (SKS 9.31, +0.14, +1.53%) and Nordstrom Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!jwn/quotes/nls/jwn (JWN 41.77, -0.33, -0.78%) to discounters Costco Wholesale Corp. /quotes/comstock/15*!cost/quotes/nls/cost (COST 61.02, -0.70, -1.13%) and Target Corp. /quotes/comstock/13*!tgt/quotes/nls/tgt (TGT 55.34, +1.33, +2.47%) , same-store sales gains of more than 10% were seen across the board.

Retailers including Kohl's Corp. /quotes/comstock/13*!kss/quotes/nls/kss (KSS 57.02, -0.12, -0.21%) , TJX Cos. /quotes/comstock/13*!tjx/quotes/nls/tjx (TJX 45.13, +0.51, +1.14%) , Ross Stores Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!rost/quotes/nls/rost (ROST 56.02, +1.88, +3.47%) and Aeropostale Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!aro/quotes/nls/aro (ARO 30.12, +0.79, +2.69%) raised their first-quarter profit outlooks while No. 2 U.S. discounter Target said its first-quarter profit will be at least 10 cents a share more than analysts' average estimate.

Total March sales rose 9.1%, a record high, with 92% of reported numbers topping Wall Street expectations, according to Thomson Reuters.

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- Posted: 2010-04-08 10:28:14

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