Ross Stores, Inc.
Off-Price Retail and ApparelFounded 1982- Updated July 2025
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Last reviewed: July 2025
CorpDigest
Ross Stores, Inc.
Financial Performance
Last reviewed: July 2025 · By Swet Parvadiya
Revenue
$21.5B
Market Cap
$48.0B
Net Income
$1.9B
Employees
103,000
Ross Stores' FY2024 net sales reached $21.5 billion — up from $20.4 billion in 2023 and $18.7 billion in 2022 — through a combination of new store openings and comparable-store sales growth that required no acquisition, no digital infrastructure investment, and no brand licensing deal. The entire revenue growth came from the same model in operation since 1982: buy distressed branded inventory cheaply and sell it quickly. Gross margin of approximately 28.5 percent in FY2024 — driven by favorable branded apparel product mix and aggressive direct factory sourcing — produces the economics that sustain $1.9 billion in net income. The gross margin is not fixed: it moves with the availability of branded closeout merchandise, which varies with broader retail health. A period of strong full-price retail sell-through reduces the supply of distressed inventory and tightens Ross's buying opportunities; a period of retail distress (pandemic-era cancelations, for instance) floods the market with exactly the branded inventory Ross's buying organization was built to absorb. The $48 billion market capitalization against $21.5 billion in annual revenue implies a price-to-sales multiple of roughly 2.2x — modest by technology company standards, reflective of the physical retail discount the market applies, but arguably underpriced for a business generating $1.9 billion in annual net income from a model with no technology disruption risk and significant competitive moat from the buying organization itself. Ross has grown entirely organically since founding — the one acquisition listed in the data is labeled "None (Organic Growth)" — which means every store, every buyer relationship, and every operational process was built from scratch rather than acquired. That organic growth history is unusual for a $48 billion company and suggests the model does not require external acquisition capital to sustain its competitive position.
Revenue Trend Analysis
YoY Change
+5.4%
2-Year CAGR
+7.2%
Peak Year
2024
Trend
Consistent Growth
Ross Stores, Inc. has reported revenue across 3 fiscal years, compounding at +7.2% annually over 2 years. The most recent year saw a 5.4% increase versus the prior year. Revenue peaked in 2024 at $21.5B. Out of 2 reported periods, 2 showed growth and 0 showed a decline.
| Fiscal Year | Revenue | Net Income | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 | $21.5B | $1.9B | +5.4% |
| FY2023 | $20.4B | — | +9.1% |
| FY2022 | $18.7B | — | — |
Source: SEC EDGAR filings, annual earnings releases, and verified financial disclosures.
Click any row to see year details.
Ross Stores reported full-year fiscal 2024 sales of $21.13 billion, up roughly 4 percent from $20.4 billion in fiscal 2023 and a new company high. Comparable-store sales rose 3 percent versus 2023. Net earnings for the year were $2.10 billion, or $6.32 per diluted share, compared with $1.87 billion or $5.56 per share in fiscal 2023. Operating margin was 12.4 percent, near the high end of the company's long-term range. The company generated approximately $2.3 billion in operating cash flow and ended the year with $4.7 billion in cash and short-term investments. Ross opened approximately 90 net new stores during the year (75 Ross Dress for Less and 15 dd's Discounts) and ended fiscal 2024 with approximately 1,830 Ross stores and 360 dd's Discounts stores across 43 states. Capital expenditure ran approximately $850 million, financing new store openings, distribution-center investment, and remodels. The company returned approximately $2 billion to shareholders during fiscal 2024 through share repurchases and dividends. Long-term debt at year-end was approximately $2.4 billion against a net cash position when offset by short-term investments, leaving the balance sheet effectively net-cash positive.
Ross Stores has sustained operating margins of approximately 12 to 13 percent for more than a decade, a level that is roughly double the operating margins of traditional department stores (typically 4 to 7 percent) and substantially above the typical specialty-apparel retailer. The structural drivers are four. First, low merchandise cost: Ross buys closeouts and excess inventory at 50 to 80 percent off wholesale, which supports gross margins of approximately 28 to 30 percent even after deep retail discounts. Second, low selling, general, and administrative expense: SG&A runs at roughly 14 to 16 percent of sales versus 25 to 30 percent at traditional retailers, driven by minimal advertising, low store-labor intensity, and no e-commerce costs. Third, high inventory turnover at six to seven turns per year, which reduces carrying costs and markdown risk relative to retailers turning two to three times per year. Fourth, disciplined capital expenditure and lease economics: average store payback is typically two to three years, far below industry norms. The combination produces returns on invested capital consistently above 25 percent and free-cash-flow conversion above 75 percent of net income, which has financed continuous share repurchases.
Ross Stores has returned the majority of its free cash flow to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends for more than two decades. The company has paid a quarterly cash dividend since 1994 and has increased the dividend annually for thirty consecutive years (with the exception of a temporary suspension in fiscal 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was reinstated in early 2021). The quarterly dividend was raised in early 2025 to $0.405 per share, an increase of approximately 10 percent over the prior level. Share repurchases have been the larger return-of-capital channel; Ross has repurchased shares continuously since 1992 under successive board-authorized programs. In March 2024 the board authorized a new $2.1 billion two-year repurchase program. Total return of capital in fiscal 2024 reached approximately $2 billion across the two channels. Over the past decade Ross has reduced its share count from approximately 410 million shares in 2014 to approximately 332 million shares in early 2025, a roughly 19 percent reduction that has compounded shareholder returns alongside earnings growth. The company is widely viewed as one of the most consistent capital-return stories in US large-cap retail.
Ross Stores went public on NASDAQ in August 1985 at a split-adjusted price of approximately $0.10 per share. Over four decades the stock has compounded at one of the highest sustained rates among US public retailers. Ross has executed multiple stock splits (including two-for-one splits in 1994, 2002, 2007, and 2015) and reached a market capitalization of approximately $48 billion by early 2025. The shares trade under the ticker ROST on NASDAQ. A $10,000 investment in Ross at its 1985 IPO, with reinvested dividends, would have grown to several million dollars by 2025, placing Ross among the top long-term-return retail stocks of the past four decades alongside Walmart, Home Depot, and Costco. The stock has experienced a few notable drawdowns including roughly 40 percent declines in 2008 to 2009 and approximately 30 percent in 2020 during the pandemic shutdown, but the recoveries have been rapid. The valuation typically trades at 22 to 26 times forward earnings, a premium to traditional retail multiples that reflects the model's defensive characteristics, the off-price duopoly's structural advantages, and the company's capital-return record.
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CorpDigest. "Ross Stores, Inc. Revenue & Financials." CorpDigest, https://corpdigest.com/company/ross-stores/financials.<div style="font-family:system-ui,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:1.5;border:1px solid #e2e8f0;border-radius:8px;padding:12px 16px;max-width:520px"><strong>Ross Stores, Inc. reported $22B in revenue (FY2024).</strong><br>Source: <a href="https://corpdigest.com/company/ross-stores/financials" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CorpDigest — Ross Stores, Inc. financials</a></div>