Ralph Lauren Corporation RL has been doing quite well for a while, thanks to its robust business strategies. The company has been gaining from strategic endeavors alongside solid demand and brand strength. RL’s digital business, including its directly-operated sites, departmentstore.com, pure players and social commerce, is quite impressive.

As a result, RL stock has surged 59.8% year to date, impressively outperforming the Zacks Textile - Apparel industry’s 3.9% decline. Let’s delve deeper.

RL’s Growth Strategies

Ralph Lauren is benefiting from strong brand recognition, robust demand and expansion across all channels and regions. The "Drive the Core and Expand for More" initiative has strategically positioned it for success. This initiative aims to bolster the company’s core business and prepare it to seize market opportunities.

RL has been experiencing growth in its digital and omnichannel business, significantly increasing customer acquisition and loyalty. The company has added 1.5 million new consumers to its direct-to-consumer (DTC) business in the most recent quarter, reflecting a high single-digit increase year over year. 

This highlights the effectiveness of its strategies and the strong appeal of its products. Its followers on social media grew low double-digits year over year to more than 62 million, driven by TikTok, Threads, Instagram, Line and Douyin. In addition, continued brand elevation, solid increases in average unit retail and positive retail comparable-store sales (comps) at all regions have been bolstering DTC comps.

The company remains focused on digital investments to continue the creation of content for all platforms, enhancing digital capabilities to improve the user experience and leveraging AI and data to serve its consumers more efficiently. Ralph Lauren continues to scale and expand its connected retail capabilities, including virtual selling appointments, “buy online, pick up in store”, endless aisle product availability and more.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

RL’s Estimates Reflect a Positive Trend

Analysts seem quite optimistic about the company. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ralph Lauren’s fiscal 2025 earnings per share (EPS) has increased 3.7%. The consensus estimate for fiscal 2026 EPS has risen 3.7% in the past 60 days.

For fiscal 2025, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for RL’s sales and EPS implies 3.5% and 13.6% growth, respectively, year over year. For fiscal 2026, the consensus mark for sales and EPS indicates a 4.2% and 11.7% year-over-year increase, respectively.

Final Words on RL Stock

There is no doubt that the stock is doing well on the bourses, given its robust strategies including brand strength and digital efforts. RL has been seeing a rise in earnings estimates as well. Its Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) further supports our thesis.

Other Stocks to Consider

We have highlighted three other top-ranked stocks, namely, G-III Apparel Group GIII, Gildan Activewear GIL and Royal Caribbean RCL.

G-III Apparel is a manufacturer, designer and distributor of apparel and accessories under licensed brands, owned brands and private label brands. It sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. 

GIII Apparel has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 113.4%, on average. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GIII Apparel’s current financial-year sales indicates growth of 1.7% from the year-ago figure.

Gildan Activewear, a manufacturer of premium quality branded basic activewear, carries a Zacks Rank of 2 at present. GIL has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 5.4%, on average. 

The consensus estimate for Gildan Activewear’s current financial-year EPS indicates growth of 15.6% from the year-ago figure.

Royal Caribbean carries a Zacks Rank of 2 at present. RCL has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 18.5%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for RCL’s 2024 sales and EPS indicates an increase of 18.7% and 72.1%, respectively, from the year-ago levels.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Ralph Lauren Corporation (RL) : Free Stock Analysis Report

G-III Apparel Group, LTD. (GIII) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Gildan Activewear, Inc. (GIL) : Free Stock Analysis Report

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Zacks Investment Research