VanEck Retail ETF

RTH

Market cap $246M

On Wednesday, both Target and Lowe's — two vastly different retail giants — reported their Q1 2026 earnings results. Considering the relatively uncertain state of inflation and consumer enthusiasm as of late, these two reports offered a prime opportunity to see how the retail sector is doing.

American consumers are rerouting their spending rather than pulling back. With University of Michigan sentiment at 48.2, the savings rate down to 3.6% from 5.1% in early 2025, and energy prices up 14.4% year-over-year, households are making rational adjustments: buying private label at Costco, hunting TJX racks for branded apparel, fixing the old Hyundai instead of financing a new one, and listing the kids' outgrown clothes on eBay.

The VanEck Retail ETF (NASDAQ:RTH) and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (NYSEARCA:XRT) both sit in the retail bucket, yet the year-to-date gap between them tells a different story.

For an inflation-adjusted perspective on retail sales, take a look at our Real Retail Sales commentary. Here is the introduction from today's report: Advance Estimates of U.S. Retail and Food Services Advance estimates of U.S.

U.S. Bank Asset Manager Group senior investment strategy director Rob Haworth discusses consumer discretionary stocks and sector on 'The Claman Countdown.' 00:00 Luxury Stocks Underperforming 00:26 The Wealthy Are Still Spending 01:01 Luxury vs.

Last week's economic data was defined by conflicting signals from the consumer. While retail figures suggest resilience, sentiment levels have plummeted to record lows.

Designed to provide broad exposure to the Consumer Discretionary - Retail segment of the equity market, the VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on December 20, 2011.

The Advance Retail Sales Report from the Census Bureau showed consumer spending was more robust than expected in March. Headline sales jumped 1.7%, a sharp acceleration from February's 0.7% rise and above the projected 1.4% growth.

The Advance Retail Sales Report from the Census Bureau showed consumer spending was more robust than expected in February. Headline sales rose 0.6%, a step up from January's 0.1% decline and better than the projected 0.5% growth.

U.S. consumer spending has remained resilient, but there is a growing divide in who is spending and what they're spending on. In what many economists describe as a K-shaped economy, higher-income households have continued to prosper, allowing them to spend freely, while lower-income consumers have scaled back as elevated prices, lagging incomes, and rising debt have taken a toll.