TJX Companies Inc (TJX) traded more than 2.5% higher on August 16 pre-market, within 1.5 hours after a strong Q2 earnings report. A fresh touch of the area above $88 per share is setting a new historical high for the stock, which already raised its market value by more than 57% since mid-summer of 2022.

Wages of a growing number of families are not keeping up with inflation, so that they used to go shopping to the stores, which are selling items at lower prices. Discount chains are receiving additional benefits from the current situation, even though their own costs are also higher. The owner of TJ Maxx reported its net sales up 8% and comparable sales up 6% YoY, which also was 3.2% above Wall Street consensus. Earnings per share (EPS) soared 23% to $0.85, which was 12% better than average estimates of analyst polls. Customer traffic increased in all divisions, with TJX International contributing almost as much as American stores.

“With our above-plan results, we are raising our full-year outlook for comparable store sales, pretax profit margin, and earnings per share,” TJX management said. Overall comparable store sales from July to September are forecasted 3% to 4% up again and EPS planned in the range of $0.95 to $0.98 cents for Q3 and between $3.66 and $3.72 for the fiscal year ending in early February 2024. Some tactical and partial profit-taking on record market price is always possible, yet a general keeping of uptrend on TJX intact looks like a priority.