These consumer stocks look positioned well for the post-pandemic period
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Truist starts off sweeping coverage on the hardlines/broadlines retail sector with a broadly bullish stance while being wary of inflation and interest rate risks.
Key themes that play into the firm's view of long duration trends are the increase in home-centric behavior after the pandemic and the migration to suburban/rural areas, which could increase vehicle usage.

On upcoming pandemic comparisons: "Most of our stocks will be facing extremely difficult comps. While multiples could compress if stacked trends were to materially decelerate, most of our universe was able to surprise to the upside in 2021."
On inflation and pricing power: "We believe that inflation is a primary concern for most investors in the space. We expect investors to lean into companies with higher levels of pricing power, such as auto parts and home improvement (including Tractor Supply) as well as Dollar Tree and Five Below due to active price increases."
On greater income bifurcation: "Consumers have broadly benefitted from asset appreciation, wage increases and government stimulus. However, with inflation now outpacing wage gains and government stimulus moderating, we expect a greater bifurcation in spending capacity between higher-income and lower-income consumers. The most at-risk in our universe from lower-income consumer exposure include Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Walmart, Ollieâs and DIY auto part sales."
Truist starts off coverage on Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP), AutoZone (NYSE:AZO), O'Reilly Automotive (NASDAQ:ORLY), Costco (NASDAQ:COST), Target (NYSE:TGT), Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR), Five Below (NASDAQ:FIVE), Lowe's (NYSE:LOW), Home Depot (NYSE:HD) and Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) with Buy ratings.
The firm launches coverage on Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC), Walmart (NYSE:WMT), Dollar General (NYSE:DG), Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings (NASDAQ:OLLI) and Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) with Hold ratings.
See Seeking Alpha Quant Ratings across the consumer discretionary sector.