Tractor Supply Company Can Plow New Highs in 2026

Tractor Supply Company’s (NASDAQ: TSCO) stock price could trend to new highs in 2026 because the Q4 results and guidance, tepid as they were, align with long-term trends. The long-term trends include steady, sustained growth, margin strength, cash flow, financial health, and capital returns. Capital returns are among the driving forces for this stock, as it is a high-quality (though less interesting than tech) growth story.

Tractor Supply Company is a big-box retailer focused on underserved rural areas where Target (NYSE: TGT), Walmart (NASDAQ: WMT), and others fear to tread. It is gaining share through store count growth, market penetration, and, in 2026, store modernizations that are expected to improve traffic and sales quality. Regarding capital returns, the stock pays dividends, and the company repurchases shares. Neither of these activities is overly aggressive, but together they yield approximately 3% as of late January. 

The dividend, yielding about 1.8%, is reliable at 45% of the earnings forecast and is expected to grow at a substantial pace. The company has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years, putting it on pace for inclusion in the Dividend Aristocrats, due in 2036. This is significant to investors as it reveals stability, a quality that attracts long-term buy-and-hold investment, which reduces market volatility. 

Regarding buybacks, the company reduced its share count by 1.1% year-over-year (YOY) as of Q4 2025, repurchasing $117.5 million in shares, and activity is forecast to accelerate in 2026. The company guided to approximately $400 million in repurchases, more than 10% above the amount listed for fiscal 2025. 

Tractor Supply Grows and Forecasts Improvement in 2026

Tractor Supply struggled in Q4 with consumers shifting from discretionary to everyday items. However, the $3.9 billion in net revenue was sufficient for 3.4% YOY growth, and growth is expected to continue in the upcoming year. 

Store count is the driving force. Tractor Supply added 32 stores in the quarter, 100 on a YOY basis or 4% of the existing count. Comps were positive but weaker than expected at 0.3%, driven entirely by transaction volume.

That suggests customers are visiting more often, but spending per trip isn’t rising, which is what’s keeping comps subdued.

Margins are a sticking point in early 2026. The company maintained profitability, though tepid comps and store count growth led to fixed-cost deleverage, contraction, and underperformance on the bottom line.

The 43-cent earnings per share, while sufficient to sustain capital returns, is down 2.7% YOY and nearly 1,000 basis points below forecasts. 

The guidance was likewise mixed. The company forecasted growth and margin improvement, but not as much as analysts had hoped. The news caused a market reset, but one that is unlikely to last long. While near-term concerns are clouding price action, growth and capital returns remain, and there is potential for economic tailwinds later in the year. Tax refunds are expected to be larger than last year for many Americans, strengthening consumer sentiment and spending trends. Recent weather may also act as a tailwind—the company cited a lack of emergency preparedness as a cause of weakness; since the quarter’s end, several winter storms have driven business. 

Tractor Supply Pulls Back to Critical Support: Trend-Following Signal in Play

Tractor Supply Company’s post-release pullback is a red flag but may not produce a market breakdown. While signaling concern, the move failed to break the trend, and indicators such as MACD and stochastic align with a well-supported market.

TSCO price action may struggle to regain traction, but it is not expected to move significantly below $51. The likely scenario is that this market forms a bottom at current levels, and then trends higher later in the year, potentially setting a fresh all-time high by mid-year or soon after.

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The article "Tractor Supply Company Can Plow New Highs in 2026" first appeared on MarketBeat.