5 Companies and Industries That Make Money During A Recession

3. Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Industry: Apparel Retail

S&P 500 Outperformance in 2008: 33.15%

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) operates off-price retail apparel and home fashion stores. The company’s brands include Dress for Less and dd’s Discounts.

An Overweight rating was reiterated on Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) shares on January 13 by analyst Adrienne Yih at Barclays.

Between 2007 and 2009, Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) generated a total return of 10.1%. The company strives to offer 20%-60% savings on branded clothes compared to department stores. As such, during recessions the company has managed to perform well since it offers consumers a much cheaper alternative for quality clothing when money is tight.

Madison Funds, managed by Madison Investment Management, mentioned Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) in its fourth-quarter 2022 investor letter. Here’s what the firm said:

“The top five contributors for the quarter were Arch Capital Group, Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST), Gartner, Markel, and PACCAR. Ross Stores is experiencing a difficult retail environment for the low-end consumer. However, results held up better than expected and the outlook appears to be improving.”