Top 4 Retail Stocks for 2025

Best Retail Stocks to Buy Now

By Matthew Frankel, CFP – Updated Sep 1, 2025 at 2:57 PM | Fact-checked by Frank Bass

Key Points

E-commerce growth favors large-scale players like Amazon, enhancing long-term leadership in retail.
Lululemon excels in the expanding athleisure market, with strong international sales growth.
Ulta Beauty maintains growth in challenging economic conditions, banking on experiential retailing.

Retail stocks are shares in publicly traded businesses that sell products or services to the public. Some retailers sell non-discretionary products (things people need), some sell discretionary items (things people want), and others sell services and experiences.

Many investors buy retail stocks because they allow them to own portions of the businesses where they shop. But there's a lot more you should consider before you invest.

Loading paragraph...

Neat rows of shopping carts. — Image source: Getty Images.

It has been a turbulent period for retailers in the past few years. E-commerce sales boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic as consumers avoided stores, and sales of certain products soared. Retailers battled shortages and supply chain constraints for much of the pandemic as they scrambled to meet consumer demand and then grappled with inflation spiking to a 40-year high soon after.

But now that the pandemic is in the rear view and inflation has cooled, the retail landscape has somewhat normalized, it could be time to take a closer look. Let's delve into some of the top retail stocks and what you need to know about investing in retail companies.

Loading paragraph...

Ticker Information Table
Company ticker	Market cap	Dividend yield	Industry
NASDAQ:AMZN	$2.4 trillion	0.00%	Multiline Retail
NYSE:HD	$389.1 billion	2.34%	Specialty Retail
NASDAQ:LULU	$21.5 billion	0.00%	Textiles, Apparel and Luxury Goods
NASDAQ:ULTA	$23.6 billion	0.00%	Specialty Retail

Data as of Oct 22, 2025.

1. Amazon

Loading paragraph...

NASDAQ: AMZN

Amazon

Today's Change

(-1.85%) $-4.11

Current Price

$217.92

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$2368B

Day's Range

$216.53 - $220.00

52wk Range

$161.38 - $242.52

Volume

1.5M

Avg Vol

44M

Gross Margin

49.61%

Dividend Yield

N/A

As the preeminent e-commerce retailer, Amazon (AMZN -1.85%) got started by selling books and now operates a marketplace enabling the online buying and selling of almost everything. Amazon also owns Whole Foods Market, which gives it a ready-made network of brick-and-mortar retail stores to further engage customers.

Loading paragraph...

Brick-and-Mortar

Brick-and-mortar refers to physical businesses with physical locations, as opposed to online or virtual enterprises.

In addition to growing its business, Amazon is focused on boosting productivity and trimming expenses. The bottom line has benefited tremendously. Amazon also has the leading cloud services platform, Amazon Web Services (AWS), which is also the fastest growing (and most profitable) part of its business.

With its immense scale, the online retail giant is well positioned to lead the e-commerce market in the long run. Smaller players without Amazon's scale and logistical muscle have struggled to compete, and that isn't likely to change anytime soon.

2. Home Depot

Loading paragraph...

NYSE: HD

Home Depot

Today's Change

(-0.49%) $-1.93

Current Price

$388.97

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$389B

Day's Range

$388.17 - $393.05

52wk Range

$326.31 - $439.37

Volume

2.9M

Avg Vol

3.5M

Gross Margin

31.40%

Dividend Yield

0.02%

Loading paragraph...

3. Lululemon Athletica

Loading paragraph...

NASDAQ: LULU

Lululemon Athletica Inc.

Today's Change

(-1.71%) $-3.10

Current Price

$178.29

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$22B

Day's Range

$175.90 - $181.50

52wk Range

$159.25 - $423.32

Volume

3.6M

Avg Vol

Gross Margin

59.04%

Dividend Yield

N/A

Loading paragraph...

4. Ulta Beauty

Loading paragraph...

NASDAQ: ULTA

Ulta Beauty

Today's Change

(-1.35%) $-7.12

Current Price

$518.80

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$24B

Day's Range

$509.86 - $526.72

52wk Range

$309.01 - $572.23

Volume

28K

Avg Vol

676K

Gross Margin

39.00%

Dividend Yield

N/A

Loading paragraph...

Revenue

Revenue is a business’s gross income or the amount of money it brings in from regular operations before costs are considered.

Loading paragraph...

An Amazon Go retail storefront. — Image source: Amazon.

Related investing topics

Loading paragraph...

8 Best Investments for 2025

Explore smart investment options for every goal and risk level. Learn what to invest in to grow your wealth.

Investing in Consumer Staples Stocks

No matter what the state of the economy is, we always need these products.

Investing in Consumer Staples Stocks

No matter what the state of the economy is, we always need these products.

How AI Is Changing the Retail Industry

Learn how artificial intelligence is impacting the retail industry today.

Loading paragraph...

Loading faq...

About the Author

Matt Frankel, CFP, is a contributing Motley Fool stock market analyst and personal finance expert covering financial stocks, REITs, SPACs, and personal finance. Prior to The Motley Fool, Matt taught high school and college mathematics. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of South Carolina, a master’s degree in mathematics from Nova Southeastern University, and a graduate certificate in financial planning from Florida State University. He won a SABEW award for coverage of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. He is also regularly interviewed by Cheddar, The National Desk, and other TV networks and publications for his financial, stock market, and investing expertise.

TMFMattFrankel

@MattFrankelCFP

Matt Frankel has positions in Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Home Depot, Lululemon Athletica Inc., and Ulta Beauty. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.