Why The TJX Companies Surged 27.2% Last Year and Has Kept Gaining in 2026

TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX) stock defied pressures facing the broader retail industry and posted market-beating gains in 2025. The company's share price rose 27.2% last year, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 16.4% and 20.4%, respectively.

TJX posted a series of strong quarterly reports and was able to succeed despite pressures impacting the retail space. The company's business updates last year suggested that the off-price retail specialist is actually benefiting from some of the headwinds impacting other retailers.

Image source: Getty Images.

TJX's business is thriving

While challenges connected to inflation, tariffs, and tightening consumer spending dampened performance for many retailers, TJX's business proved to be quite resilient. The company managed to beat sales and earnings expectations with each of the three quarterly reports published for its 2026 fiscal year, and the performance helped support solid valuation gains.

In November, the company published its report for the third quarter of fiscal 2026 -- which ended at the beginning of that month. The company posted earnings per share of $1.28 on revenue of $15.12 billion. By comparison, the average analyst estimate had called for per-share earnings of $1.22 on sales of $14.85 billion.

Across the first three quarters of fiscal 2026, the business recorded revenue of approximately $42.63 billion and earnings of $3.30 per share. For comparison, the business recorded sales of $40 billion and per-share net income of $3.03 in the prior-year period.

The TJ Maxx operator posted strong same-store sales growth, paving the way for better-than-expected revenue and earnings growth. Gross margin gains, improved operating cost efficiency, and stock buybacks also helped boost earnings.

TJX stock has been moving higher in 2026

TJX stock has continued to post market-beating performance early in 2026's trading. The company's share price is up 2.5% year to date, beating the S&P 500's gain of 1.4% and the Nasdaq Composite's gain of 1.2%.

With the stock trading at roughly 34 times this year's expected earnings, investors have been willing to pay a premium to own a piece of the business because of its sturdiness. TJX's model of bulk purchasing name-brand goods at heavily discounted prices has allowed it to continue growing customer traffic and ticket sizes at its stores even as other retailers have been feeling the squeeze of macroeconomic pressures. The company's sourcing strategies have been proving very effective, and the business looks well-positioned to post sturdy performance even if challenges persist across the broader retail market.

Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends TJX Companies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.