Black Friday is giving retail stocks a boost (AMZN, WMT, HD, JCP, BBY)

pulse

November 24, 2017 3:32 PM

Black Friday is expected to be a big day of sales for many retailers, and the sector is trading higher during the shopping holiday.

Black Friday is one of the most important days for retail, with 0ne third of annual sales occurring in the fourth quarter.
Many retail stocks are trading higher on Friday.

It's Black Friday in the US, and shoppers across the country are waking up early to take advantage of the shopping holiday. Retail stocks are mostly higher on Friday, as some companies could post their best sales days of the year.

Goldman Sachs estimates that as much as a third of annual retail sales come in the fourth quarter, making holiday shopping incredibly important for many stores. Goldman also thinks that retail stocks will be more heavily traded on Friday, leading to more price volatility and opportunity for traders, even though the trading day is shorter than normal.

The biggest challenge for many brick-and-mortar retailers comes from the likes of Amazon and e-commerce. People are started to do more of their shopping online, and even traditional retailers like Walmart have started to focus heavily on augmenting in-store shopping with online offerings to stay relevant and meet a consumer's changing demands.

The S&P retail index as tracked by SPDR is up 0.29% on Friday, indicating a small bump in most retailers. Here's a roundup of how some individual companies are doing.