Retail Sales Show Resilience in July: Sector ETFs in Focus

Retail sales in the United States increased 0.5% sequentially in July 2025, in line with market expectations and following an upwardly revised 0.9% rise in June. The largest increases were seen in sales at motor vehicle & parts dealers (1.6%), and furniture & home furn. stores (1.4%).

Other gains were seen in sales at sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, & book store (0.8%), nonstore retailers (0.8%), clothing & clothing accessories stores (0.7%) and gasoline stations (0.7%).

Winning Areas

Below, we highlight a few areas and the related ETFs & stocks that may benefit handsomely from the retail sales.

Online Sales

Nonstore retailers (e.g., online sales) saw a 0.8% sequential increase and an 8.0% yearly gain.

ProShares Online Retail ETF ONLN – The ProShares Online Retail Index is a specialized retail index that tracks retailers principally selling online or through other non-store channels. The fund charges 58 bps in fees.

Amazon.com AMZN – Amazon.com is one of the largest e-commerce providers, with sprawling operations in North America, now spreading across the globe. The fund has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Clothing Stores

Sales gained 0.7% sequentially in July and 5% year over year.

SPDR S&P Retail ETF XRT – The fund gives exposure to U.S. retail stocks. Apparel retail takes about 21% of the fund. The fund charges 35 bps in fees.

Levi Strauss & Co. LEVI – The Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company designs and markets jeans, casual wear and related accessories for men, women and children under the Levi's, Dockers, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co. and Denizen brands.

Furniture & Home Furnishing Stores

Sales for Furniture & Home Furnishing Storesrose 1.4% sequentially and 5.1% year over year.

iShares U.S. Consumer Focused ETF IEDI – The fund gives exposure to U.S. companies, with a focus on consumer spending and consumer goods. The fund charges 18 bps in fees.

Home Depot HD – The Zacks Rank #3 company is the world’s largest home improvement specialty retailer.

Health & Personal Care Stores

Sales for Health & Personal Stores increased 0.4% sequentially and 5.6% year over year.

iShares U.S. Healthcare Providers ETF IHF – The fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of Dow Jones U.S. Select Health Care Providers Index. The fund charges 40 bps in fees.

CVS Health CVS – The Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company is a pharmacy innovation company with integrated offerings across the entire spectrum of pharmacy care.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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