5 Stocks to Buy for a Likely U.S. Wedding Boom in 2022
Wall Street is set to finish an impressive 2021 after an astonishing bull run in 2020. Both years were fraught with the unprecedented pandemic. In 2021, U.S. stock markets have primarily benefitted from the reopening of the country’s economy and its solid fundamentals.
This year, the primary driver of the U.S. economic growth has been massive pent-up demand, which will usher in the country’s GDP growth in 2022 too. A particular surge in demand, which is likely next year would be in the market for weddings and related celebrations that were postponed due to the rapid spread of COVID-19 infections.
Consequently, investing in stocks that will benefit from a U.S. wedding boom should be fruitful ahead. We have selected five of them with a favorable Zacks Rank. These are - Hilton Grand Vacations Inc. HGV, Signet Jewelers Ltd. SIG, Boot Barn Holdings Inc. BOOT, Tapestry Inc. TPR and Ulta Beauty Inc. ULTA.
A Likely U.S. Wedding Boom in 2022
U.S. weddings are likely to rebound in 2022 after two lukewarm years. Both years were affected by the coronavirus pandemic and several stringent restrictions set by state and federal governments in order to curb the rapid spread of the highly transmissible COVD-19 infection.
As the U.S. economy has fully reopened with nationwide vaccination, restrictions on social life have been mostly repealed. Also, positive news regarding the less severity of Omicron — the latest variant of coronavirus — have cleared the path for U.S. citizens to go ahead with weddings and celebrations.
Hospitalitynet reported citing Milestone data that U.S. weddings will top 2.5 million in 2022 compared with 1.93 million in 2021. Average spending on weddings is likely to rise to $24,300 in 2022 from $22,500 in 2021. The Washington Post reported that 47% of couples postponed their marriage ceremonies in 2020 due to lockdown and other social restrictions.
The Wedding Report estimated that approximately 2.5 million weddings will take place in the United States in 2022, the highest since 1984. The report said about 2.1 million weddings per annum took place in pre-pandemic era. However, it dropped to 1.2 million in 2020 and 1.93 in 2021. The average wedding cost is likely to rise to $24,300 in 2022 from $22,500 in 2021.
The Wall Street Journal reported citing Knot data that an estimated 2.6 million weddings will take place in the United States in 2022, a record high. The WSJ reported “Right now, finding the perfect life partner might be easier than planning the perfect wedding event.”
Our Top Picks
We narrowed our search to five stocks that should benefit from a U.S. wedding boom in 2022. Each of our picks carries either a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The chart below shows the price performance of our five picks year to date.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Hilton Grand Vacations is a timeshare company that develops, markets, sells, and manages vacation ownership resorts primarily under the Hilton Grand Vacations brand. HGV also manages and serves club membership programs which include Hilton Grand Vacations Club and The Hilton Club.
Hilton Grand Vacations operates primarily in the United States, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, Scotland and Thailand. HGV has two segments: Real Estate Sales and Financing; and Resort Operations and Club Management
Zacks Rank#1 Hilton Grand Vacations has an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for next year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for next-year earnings improved 8.8% over the last 30 days. The stock price of HGV has jumped 63.2% year to date.
Tapestry provides luxury accessories and branded lifestyle products in the United States, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Europe, Canada, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand. TPR operates through three segments: Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman.
Tapestry highlighted that strength in North America as well as sustained growth in Digital and China contributed to its recent performance. Management also raised its revenue and earnings per share guidence for the fiscal year. TPR’s focus on improving SKU productivity, maintaining price discipline and effective marketing have been contributing.
Zacks Rank#1 Tapestry has an expected earnings growth rate of 17.9% for the current year (ending June 2022). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings improved 4.8% over the last 60 days. The stock price of TPR has surged 32.8% year to date.
Boot Barn Holdings operates as a lifestyle retail chain devoted to western and work-related footwear, apparel and accessories. In addition, BOOT provides gifts and home merchandise.
Boot Barn Holdings’ products include boots, denim, western shirts, cowboy hats, belts and belt buckles, and western-style jewelry and accessories. BOOT also offers rugged footwear, outerwear, overalls, denim, and shirts, as well as safety-toe boots, and flame-resistant and high-visibility clothing. It sells its products through bootbarn.com.
Zacks Rank #1 BOOT has expected earnings growth of more than 100% for the current year (ending March 2022). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1.7% over the last 30 days. The stock price of Boot Barn has rallied 169.4% year to date.
Ulta Beauty has been benefiting from its omnichannel strength, thanks to efficient store and digital operations. ULTA’s skincare category has been gaining on consumers’ rising interest toward self-care. Further, management raised its fiscal 2021 guidance.
Ulta Beauty has been seeing market share gains in major beauty categories for a while now, with skincare standing out. Its foremost priority is to strengthen its omnichannel business and explore the potential of both physical and digital facets.
Zacks Rank #2 Ulta Beauty has an expected earnings growth rate of 5% for next year (ending January 2023). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for next-year earnings has improved 9.6% over the last 30 days. The stock price has climbed 36.6% year to date.
Signet Jewelers has been gaining from growth in the e-commerce business and advancements made with respect tof the Inspiring Brilliance strategy. SIG’s efforts to boost banner value propositions, product newness, marketing efforts and connected commerce strategy have been yielding. The digital business of Signet Jewelers is the key growth driver and management is focused on enhancing the data-analytics capabilities.
Zacks Rank #2 Signet Jewelers has an expected earnings growth rate of 415.2% for the current year (ending January 2022). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 5.1% over the last 30 days. The stock price has soared 206.3% year to date.
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Ulta Beauty Inc. (ULTA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Signet Jewelers Limited (SIG) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. (BOOT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Hilton Grand Vacations Inc. (HGV) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Tapestry, Inc. (TPR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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