Cowen said Friday that Macy’s M, +0.98%, Walmart Inc. WMT, +0.43% and Ulta Beauty Inc. ULTA, +0.22% rank as its top Black Friday holiday stocks. “We believe each will benefit from product diversification, trend right execution, gifting assortments at competitive prices and value positioning,” Cowen analyst Oliver Chen said in a research note. Concerns for the season include lack of newness, excess inventory and pressured low-end consumers, Chen said. “Cowen believes shoppers will look for deeper discounts and shop later as inflation removes discretionary dollars and an extra shopping day allows for procrastination,” Chen said. Cowen is currently forecasting a 5% to 7% holiday sales increase, down from a 13.5% increase in 2021. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF XRT, -0.06% is down 26.3% in 2022 compared to a 15.5% loss by the S&P 500 SPX, -0.03%.
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