This year's holiday shopping season, which runs from Thanksgiving to Christmas, is expected to see sales growth at its slowest pace in six years, according to separate reports from the National Retail Federation and Deloitte, per Reuters, as quoted on Yahoo Finance.

U.S. retailers are offering hefty discounts and loading up holiday deals early to attract budget-conscious shoppers this year. Department stores such as Kohl's KSS and Macy's M have turned cautious with their annual forecasts due to a slowdown in sales.

Stocks to Gain

Abercrombie & Fitch ANF

Abercrombie & Fitch operates as a specialty retailer of premium, high-quality casual apparel for men, women and kids. The Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company has raised its forecasts because of strong demand for trendy apparel. The ANF stock has an upbeat VGM Score of A.

Three out of six analysts boosted earnings forecast for the upcoming quarter for the ANF stock over the last seven days. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings per share for the January quarter is $3.42, up by three cents over the last seven days.

Walmart WMT

Walmart Inc. has evolved from being just a traditional brick-and-mortar retailer into an omnichannel player. Walmart’s product offerings include almost everything from grocery to cosmetics, electronics to stationery, home furnishings to health and wellness products, and apparel to entertainment products, to name a few.

Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) Walmart is expected to benefit from even a mixed holiday shopping season. The Walmart stock has a moderate VGM Score of B.

Best Buy BBY

Best Buy Company retails technology products in the United States and Canada. Its products include consumer electronics, home office products, entertainment software, communication, food preparation, wellness, health, security, appliances and related services.

With the holiday shopping season expected to be the best days for appliances, the Best Buy stock may make the best of this trend. The BBY stock has a Zacks Rank #3 and a VGM Score of B.

ETFs to Gain

Amplify Online Retail ETF IBUY

Online sales in the United States were up about 4% for the first half of the Thanksgiving holiday compared to a 2% rise last year, Salesforce data showed on Thursday, a fresh sign that shoppers are lapping up steep discounts from retailers, per Reuters.

SPDR S&P Retail ETF XRT

Discounts at apparel are expected to hit 23% (vs. 24% in 2023), while it is expected to be 20% (vs. 18% in 2023) for sporting goods, per Adobe. The ETF XRT has around 20% exposure to apparel stocks, making XRT an apt pick for Cyber Week.  

iShares Semiconductor ETF SOXX

Consumers are binging on electronics for gift purposes. Discounts for electronics are expected to peak at 30% off the listed price (vs. 31% in 2023), per Adobe. Record high discounts are expected for TVs at 24% (vs. 23% in 2023).

Discounts on appliances are set to stay at 18% (vs. 18% in 2023). Semiconductors or chips are the basic materials used in the present solid-state electronic devices, and thus chip companies should see increased sales.

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Macy's, Inc. (M) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Kohl's Corporation (KSS) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Walmart Inc. (WMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Abercrombie & Fitch Company (ANF) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Best Buy Co., Inc. (BBY) : Free Stock Analysis Report

SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT): ETF Research Reports

iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX): ETF Research Reports

Amplify Online Retail ETF (IBUY): ETF Research Reports

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