Retail Sales Climb: A Look at Some Potential Stock Winners and Losers

Retail and consumer stocks got some good news when the U.S. Census Bureau recently reported retail sales numbers for November. Retail sales grew 0.6% month over month and 3.1% year over year, while core retail sales, which exclude auto-related sales and gasoline, increased 0.4% month over month and 4.4% versus a year ago.

Let's look at some potential winners and losers from the report, starting with the winners.

Image source: Getty Images.

Amazon

Nonstore retailers, which include e-commerce companies like Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), saw their sales rise 7.2% in November. As the largest company in the e-commerce space, this likely bodes well for Amazon, with its recent sales momentum continuing.

On top of that, the company has been seeing growth in its sponsored ad business, as well as strong operating leverage in its retail operations due to efficiencies from its use of robots and artificial intelligence (AI). Throw in accelerating growth from its cloud computing unit, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Amazon's stock looks well positioned to bounce back in 2026.

Nike and Dick's Sporting Goods

Two of the best performing categories in the November retail report were sporting goods stores, which saw a 7.8% increase in November sales. Clothing stores were up 7.5%. Combine that with strong insider buying at the company in late December, and that could be a good sign that Nike's (NYSE: NKE) turnaround is starting to take hold.

On the inside buying front, CEO Elliot Hill bought more than $1 million in shares, while Nike director and Apple CEO Tim Cook purchased nearly $3 million in Nike stock.

Nike has started to see sales turn around in North America and Europe this fiscal year, but it still needs to improve its business in China and recover lost gross margins caused by discounting and tariffs. However, its turnaround seems headed in the right direction.

Dick's Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS) also looks like a solid potential winner from the November sales report. The company's core business has been solid, as it's leaned into more experiential experiences to draw in customers.

However, it's currently absorbing its recent acquisition of Foot Locker and working to improve that business by shuttering underperforming stores and clearing out stale inventory. The company has set a low bar with guidance, so the setup could be solid moving forward.

E.l.f Beauty

Another potential winner from the November retail report is e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE: ELF). Health and personal care stores, which include both pharmacies and beauty retailers, saw sales rise a robust 6.7% year over year in November. That bodes well for e.l.f. since its products are sold through both these outlets.

E.l.f.'s namesake brand has long been taking market share in this space, while it recently acquired Rhode, which had a strong debut at LVMH's Sephora stores in September. With mass cosmetic sales rebounding and a long runway of growth with Rhode, the setup for e.l.f. looks solid in 2026.

Toast

Another strong category from the November retail report was food services and drinking places, which saw their sales rise 4.9% year over year. This should benefit restaurant software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider Toast (NYSE: TOST), which also benefits from its customers' increasing sales through its payment processing solutions. The company is growing quickly by adding new locations, and rising restaurant sales should be another tailwind for the company.

Potential losers

While the November retail report was strong overall, not every category was a winner. Furniture stores and building material and garden supply dealers both saw negative sales growth, with sales down 1.4% and 2.8%, respectively.

This likely will continue to weigh on furniture sales of companies like RH (NYSE: RH), which is trying to navigate an expensive European expansion during a difficult home furnishings market.

RH stock is off to a blistering start in 2026 after the White House announced it was delaying some increased furniture tariffs until 2027, but the market remains difficult.

Meanwhile, Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) have both struggled with same-store sales growth the past few years. Both stocks have also had strong starts to 2026, but time will tell if that will continue, given the ongoing pressures in the industry.

Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Amazon, LVMH Moët Hennessy-Louis Vuitton, Toast, and e.l.f. Beauty. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Apple, Home Depot, Nike, Toast, and e.l.f. Beauty. The Motley Fool recommends Lowe's Companies and RH. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.