Consumer Discret Sel Sect SPDR® ETF

North America and Europe are two important geographic regions for Ford Motor Company. The US accounts for more than half of Ford’s total revenues.

Specialty chemical products play important roles in enhancing the performance of cars. Motor oil cools car engines and keeps moving parts working smoothly.

Being born and raised in a farmer family, Henry Ford had the vision to produce a vehicle for the masses. This encouraged him to produce the Model T.

Dollar Tree (DLTR) (XRT) (XLY) is pretty consistent for extracting organic growth from its business, seeing growth in the mid-single digits over the years.

The greatest opportunity for Lowe’s (LOW) perhaps lies in fully leveraging the omni-channel (XLY) model.

Under Armour (UA) anticipates higher inventory growth over the next few quarters. It has made a number of changes on the inventory and supply chain side.

Ford Motor Company (F) will release its 4Q15 earnings report on January 28, 2016. Nearly 43% of total analysts covering Ford have given it a “buy” recommendation.

Jack in the Box (JACK) manages marketing funds that include contributions from both its franchise and company-owned restaurants.

Hotel investors can use the indicators discussed in this series to gauge the industry’s general trends. Leisure travelers make up ~60% of the total hotel room sales, and business travelers account for 40% of total sales.

Under Armour is scheduled to declare its earnings for 4Q15 and full-year 2015 on January 28, 2016. It has projected revenue of $3.9 billion for 2015.

To speed up service, Jack in the Box (JACK) used a two-way intercom when it opened its first restaurant in 1951.

Since Jack in the Box’s acquisition of brand Qdoba Mexican Grill, now named Qdoba Mexican Eats, the brand has grown from a mere 85 restaurants to 661.

In 2003, when Jack in the Box (JACK) acquired Qdoba Mexican Grill for $45 million, Qdoba was operating 85 outlets with a total revenue of $65 million.

Cost reimbursements make up a major component of Marriott’s revenues and mostly consist of salaries paid to employees working in Marriott-managed hotels.

With improved consumer sentiment, there may be greater consumer spending in the economy, which may translate into faster economic growth.

Headquartered in San Diego, California, Jack in the Box (JACK), was founded by Robert O. Peterson in 1951.

Let’s examine the management’s target for the restaurant operating margins for each of Yum! Brands’ divisions in 2016. Please note that the data excludes India.

A company’s incremental operating margin is calculated as the change in operating income divided by the change in revenue over a period.

Chipotle expects its 4Q15 same-store sales growth to range from -8% to -11%. This would be the first time in almost ten years the company expects to report negative same-store sales growth.

When the first cases of E. coli were linked to Chipotle, the company shut down 43 of its restaurants for a week.

Wyndham Worldwide is considered the world’s largest hotel franchiser. It owns the world’s largest vacation ownership and exchange network.

Shake Shack stated that its limited-time offers, the ShackMeister Burger and Roadside Shack, have been “big drivers” for its ticket and traffic growth.

Home Depot’s same-store sales grew 5.1% overall, marking the 18th straight quarter of positive comps for the retailer.

Ross Stores operates under two trademarks: Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS. There are 1,259 Dress for Less and 165 dd’s DISCOUNTS stores in the US.

Under Armour’s (UA) international operations are among its fastest-growing businesses.

Under Armour is a growth company. In this series, we’ll discuss how the company plans to double its business in the next four years.

Average revenue per square foot gives us insight into how efficiently a company is able to generate sales. Naturally, the higher the number, the better.

Tesla (TSLA) uses the online sales model coupled with company-owned stores to sell its cars. Selling more vehicles online reduces the company’s selling costs.

Informed investors can profit from businesses that have filed for bankruptcy. A chapter 11 bankruptcy gives a company a second chance to revive its business.

Tesla’s value proposition is centered on the electric vehicle market. However, the share of EVs in total vehicle sales is minuscule at best.

In 2Q15, Baskin-Robbins’s US same-store sales growth rate fell to 3.4% compared to 4.2% a year ago. This was driven by ongoing promotions and discounts and a 75% increase in online cake ordering.

OTAs have done well in the past few years. They’ve ridden on the surge in the travel industry because more people are travelling for business and leisure.

On June 29, Disney announced it will merge two of its stand-alone segments into one. Disney Consumer Products and Disney Interactive will become Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media.

Disney’s Studio Entertainment segment had revenues of $1.7 billion in 2Q15, down 6% from 2Q14. The segment had operating income of $0.4 billion, a 10% fall from 2Q14.

Amazon (AMZN) has a new competitor in town—Jet.com. It opened to the public early last week. The startup was founded by Marc Lore.

McDonald’s (MCD) turnaround plan, which went into effect on July 1, 2015, will take several months to yield results as far as the company’s performance goes.

According to Starbucks (SBUX) management, the company’s My Starbucks Reward program helps increase customer loyalty.

Domino’s continues its investment in the technology space with its recent launch of Domino’s pizza delivery tracker available on Apple Watch.

Agricultural and livestock commodities such as corn, coffee, beef, pork, chicken, and cheese play an important role in the restaurant business, as demand and supply factors impact prices.

Restoration Hardware, the luxury furniture retailer, is one of the most successful adapters of omnichannel retailing in the industry. It uses its stores as brand showrooms.

In the US, consumer sentiment rose in June. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) has gained about 1.22% over the past month.

A tight labor market with low unemployment and participation rates puts pressure on restaurant companies to raise wages to retain their employees.

There’s strong acceptance of the Starbucks loyalty program in China, with 40% of transactions completed using the Starbucks card.

The Americas and the CAP (China, Asia-Pacific) segments have been the biggest contributors toward Starbucks global comps growth.

Lululemon is testing RFID (radio frequency identification) technology and plans to implement the technology, which is currently used in ~13 stores.

Over the past 12 months, the restaurant industry has experienced significant sales growth. In this series, we’ll look at certain indicators that investors in this sector should track.

The US same-day delivery market could grow from $0.10 billion in 2014 to $4.03 billion in 2018 at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 150%.

New Charter is the proposed merged entity. The company will include networks of some of the largest cable operators in the US.

In the MoffettNathanson Media & Communications Summit on May 13, the company highlighted its intellectual properties portfolio.

Chipotle’s average restaurant size is about 2,550 square feet. With an average restaurant volume of $2.4 million, the revenue per square foot comes to $969.