As Halloween shopping gets underway, here’re five stocks to consider

Highlights

• The National Retail Federation (NRF) expects Halloween spending to be around US$10.1 billion this year.
  
  
• The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) is expected to report its third-quarter earnings on Oct 28.
   
• Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) will release its Q3 earnings for FY22 on Nov 16.

The much-awaited Halloween festival will be held on Oct 31 this year. As the US holiday shopping season kicks off, retailers are stocking up supplies to meet the demands despite supply bottlenecks. Naturally, decoration and costume items are the must-have articles for retailers. According to the National Retail Federation, around 45% of more than 8,000 consumers surveyed in the first week of last month planned for Halloween shopping in September, while about 39% were expected to shop in the first two weeks of October.

Here are five stocks to explore for Halloween.

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The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

The Hershey Company is one of the leading chocolate manufacturers in the US. This Pennsylvania-based company also produces baking products like cookies, cakes, etc.

Its stock traded at US$178.02 at 1:26 pm ET on Oct 11, up 0.15% from its previous closing price. The stock rose 17.79% YTD. It has a market cap of US$36.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.83, and a forward P/E one year of 25.69. Its EPS is US$6.88.

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The 52-week highest and lowest stock prices were US$182.71 and US$135.83, respectively. Its trading volume was 639,229 on October 8. It plans to report its Q3 results on Oct 28.

Hershey’s net sales increased by 16.5 percent YoY to US$1.98 billion in Q2, FY21. Its net income came in at US$301.23 million compared to US$268.90 million in the year-ago quarter.

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Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Mondelez is a Chicago, Illinois-based confectionery, food, beverage, and snack company. It operates in some 150 countries.

The stock was priced at US$59.43 at 1:32 pm ET on Oct 11, down 0.18% from its previous closing price. The MDLZ stock rose 2.8% YTD. Its market cap is US$83.13 billion, the P/E ratio is 19.69, and the forward P/E one year is 20.51. Its EPS is US$3.02.

The 52-week highest and lowest stock prices were US$65.60 and US$52.51, respectively. Its share volume on October 8 was 5,787,650. The firm will report its Q3 earnings on Nov 2.

The company's net revenue was US$6.64 billion in Q2, FY21, versus US$5.91 billion in the same quarter of FY20. Its net earnings were US$1.07 billion against US$545 million in Q2, FY20.

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Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Lowe's is a North Carolina-based retail store operator. It offers home improvement products for consumers. The stock traded at US$210.369 at 1:39 pm ET on Oct 11, up 2.04%, from its previous closing price. The stock surged 28.54% YTD. The firm has a market cap of US$145.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.73, and a forward P/E one year of 18.35. Its EPS is US$9.69.

The 52-week highest and lowest stock prices were US$215.22 and US$146.72, respectively. Its trading volume was 3,042,044 on Oct 8.

The net sales were US$27.57 billion in Q2, FY21, against US$27.30 billion in the year-ago quarter. Its net earnings were US$3.01 billion against US$2.82 billion in Q2, FY20.

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TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

The TJX Companies is a departmental store operator based in Massachusetts. It provides off-price retail services of apparel and other home fashions to consumers.

The stock was priced at US$63.13 at 1:45 pm ET on Oct 11, down by 2.49% from its previous closing price. The TJX stock declined 3.1% YTD. Its market cap is US$75.92 billion, the P/E ratio is 30.65, and the forward P/E one year is 21.73. Its EPS is US$2.06.

The 52-week highest and lowest stock prices were US$76.16 and US$50.06, respectively. Its share volume on Oct 8 was 5,352,126.

The company's net sales were US$12.07 billion in Q2, FY22, compared to US$6.66 billion in the year-ago quarter. Its net income was US$785.68 million, against a loss of US$214.22 million in Q2, FY21.

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Source: Pixabay

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Walmart is an Arkansas-based retail company and operates various discount departmental stores and grocery stores. The stock traded at US$139.51 at 1:50 pm ET on Oct 11, down by 0.11% from its previous close. The WMT stock fell 4.69% YTD. The firm has a market cap of US$389.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.35, and a forward P/E one year of 22.10. Its EPS is US$3.55.

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The highest and lowest stock prices for the last 52 weeks were US$153.66 and US$126.28, respectively. Its trading volume was 4,615,761 on Oct 8. It plans to release its fiscal 2022 third-quarter earnings results on Nov 16

Walmart’s revenue was US$141 billion in Q2, FY22, compared to US$137.7 billion in Q2, FY21. Its net income was US$4.36 billion against US$6.47 billion in Q2, FY21.

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Bottomline

The National Retail Federation (NRF) expects Halloween spending to reach an all-time high of US$10.1 billion this year. In 2017, it was US$9.1 billion. According to NRF, about two-thirds of Americans will celebrate Halloween this year, almost close to the pre-pandemic level.