About TJX COMPANIES INC
The TJX Companies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an off-price apparel and home fashions retailer. It operates through four segments: Marmaxx, HomeGoods, TJX Canada, and TJX International. The company sells family apparel, including footwear and accessories; home fashions, such as home basics, furniture, rugs, lighting products, giftware, soft home products, decorative accessories, tabletop, and cookware, as well as expanded pet, kids, and gourmet food departments; jewelry and accessories; and other merchandise. As of February 23, 2022, it operated 1,284 T.J.
Maxx, 1,148 Marshalls, 850 HomeGoods, 59 Sierra, and 39 Homesense stores, as well as tjmaxx.com, marshalls.com, and sierra.com in the United States; 293 Winners, 147 HomeSense, and 106 Marshalls stores in Canada; 618 T.K. Maxx and 77 Homesense stores, as well as tkmaxx.com in Europe; and 68 T.K. Maxx stores in Australia. The company was incorporated in 1962 and is headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts.
TJX operates in the Retail Trade | Retail | headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts | approximately 340,000 employees | led by CEO Ernie L. Herrman.
The $155.5B question: What happens when a company this good becomes this expensive?
The American consumer has always been a fickle beast — spending freely in good times and retreating in bad. TJX COMPANIES INC /DE/ has spent decades learning to read those moods, and right now, the reading is surprisingly sanguine.
At $155.5B in market capitalization, TJX COMPANIES INC /DE/ (TJX) currently ranks #4 in our quantitative model, with a composite score of 80.6/100. That places it firmly in "Strong Buy" territory — our highest conviction rating.
But here's the thing about stocks priced for perfection: They leave no room for error.
The Numbers That Matter
Let's start with what's undeniably true. Our 6-factor model gives TJX the following scores:
| Factor | Score | Weight | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quality | 95/100 | 30% | Exceptional |
| Value | 57/100 | 15% | Premium |
| Momentum | 82/100 | 25% | Accelerating |
| Investment | 77/100 | 10% | Growing |
| Stability | 90/100 | 10% | Fortress |
| Short Interest | 10/100 | 10% | High shorts |
The quality score of 95/100 is the headline here. It reflects profitability metrics that would make most CFOs weep with envy:
- ROE: 63.5%
- Net Margin: 9.5%
- Gross Margin: 32.6%
These aren't just good numbers. They're the kind of numbers that make TJX a "must-own" stock for institutional portfolios.
The Bull Case
"If you could design a business in a laboratory, it would look something like TJX."
The bull case writes itself:
- Quality is persistent. Academic research shows high-quality stocks outperform by 4-6% annually over long periods. TJX is quality defined.
- Momentum is real. With a momentum score of 82/100, the stock has been recognized by the market — and momentum tends to persist.
- The moat is deep. Companies with these margins don't lose them easily. The competitive position is entrenched.
The Bear Case
But here's what keeps value investors up at night:
- Valuation compression risk. At current levels, the stock is priced for continued perfection. Any stumble — a missed quarter, a competitive threat, a macro slowdown — could compress the multiple from 30.4x to the low 20s. That's a 20-30% decline without anything fundamentally "wrong."
- The crowded trade problem. When everyone owns a stock, who's left to buy? Momentum works until it doesn't.
- Mean reversion. Trees don't grow to the sky. At some point, growth decelerates.
The Valuation Framework
| Scenario | Assumption | Fair Value | Upside/Downside |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bear | Multiple compression to 20x | -20% | Downside |
| Base | Current trajectory continues | +10-15% | Modest upside |
| Bull | Momentum accelerates | +30-40% | Significant upside |
The risk-reward is ... fine. Not exceptional. Not terrible. Just fine.
The Bottom Line
TJX COMPANIES INC /DE/ is exactly what it appears to be: a high-quality business with strong momentum trading at a premium price. Whether that's attractive depends entirely on what kind of investor you are.
For long-term, buy-and-hold investors, TJX is a core holding. For value investors or short-term traders, look elsewhere.
The company is priced for perfection — and in markets, as in life, perfection is a fragile thing.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 5-Star Strong Buy
Score: 80.6/100 | Rank: #4 of 3,571 stocks
Sector: Consumer Discretionary
This analysis reflects the views of Blank Capital Research as of February 16, 2026. It is not investment advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
