The latest trading session saw Ross Stores (ROST) ending at $151.56, denoting a -0.82% adjustment from its last day's close. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 0.13%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.33%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw a decrease of 0.39%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the discount retailer had gained 0.67% over the past month. This has lagged the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 6.55% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.43% in that time.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Ross Stores in its forthcoming earnings report. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $1.41, signifying a 6.02% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $5.17 billion, indicating a 5.01% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $6.20 per share and revenue of $21.27 billion. These totals would mark changes of +11.51% and +4.39%, respectively, from last year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Ross Stores. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.18% downward. Ross Stores currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at valuation, Ross Stores is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 24.65. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 20.77 of its industry.

Meanwhile, ROST's PEG ratio is currently 2.48. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. ROST's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.5 as of yesterday's close.

The Retail - Discount Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 191, finds itself in the bottom 25% echelons of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.

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