Sectors & IndustriesConsumer DefensiveDiscount Stores

Best Discount Store Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top discount store stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +32.52% per year, and are the best discount store stocks to buy now. Learn More.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best discount store stocks to buy right now are:

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) is the #1 top discount store stock out of 9 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +19.88% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Dollar General (NYSE:DG) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: D, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) has a Due Diligence Score of 42, which is 4 points higher than the discount store industry average of 38.

DG passed 14 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Dollar General has seen its stock return 83.16% over the past year, overperforming other discount store stocks by 77 percentage points.

Dollar General has an average 1 year price target of $135.56, a downside of -2.42% from Dollar General's current stock price of $138.93.

Dollar General stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 16 analysts covering Dollar General, 31.25% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 12.5% have issued a Buy, 56.25% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Pricesmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) is the #2 top discount store stock out of 9 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +19.88% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Pricesmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Pricesmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) has a Due Diligence Score of 44, which is 6 points higher than the discount store industry average of 38.

PSMT passed 16 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Pricesmart has seen its stock return 38.64% over the past year, overperforming other discount store stocks by 32 percentage points.

Costco (NASDAQ:COST) is the #3 top discount store stock out of 9 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +7.53% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Costco (NASDAQ:COST) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Costco (NASDAQ:COST) has a Due Diligence Score of 48, which is 10 points higher than the discount store industry average of 38.

COST passed 19 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Costco has seen its stock lose -5.09% over the past year, underperforming other discount store stocks by -12 percentage points.

Costco has an average 1 year price target of $1,039.13, an upside of 18.66% from Costco's current stock price of $875.74.

Costco stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 16 analysts covering Costco, 31.25% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 37.5% have issued a Buy, 25% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 6.25% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 5 discount store stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 discount store stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Target (NYSE:TGT) has an annual dividend yield of 4.43%, which is 3 percentage points higher than the discount store industry average of 1.65%. Target's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Target's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Target's dividend payout ratio of 54.6% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) has an annual dividend yield of 1.27%, which is the same as the discount store industry average of 1.65%. Dollar General's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Dollar General's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Dollar General's dividend payout ratio of 40.7% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Pricesmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) has an annual dividend yield of 0.99%, which is -1 percentage points lower than the discount store industry average of 1.65%. Pricesmart's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Pricesmart's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Pricesmart's dividend payout ratio of 26.1% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Discount store stocks were up 2.2% in the last day, and up 1.79% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why discount store stocks are up.

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued discount store stocks right now are:

Target (NYSE:TGT) is the most undervalued discount store stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Target has a valuation score of 43, which is 14 points higher than the discount store industry average of 29. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Target's stock has dropped -26.7% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the discount store industry by -33 percentage points.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) is the second most undervalued discount store stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Dollar General has a valuation score of 43, which is 14 points higher than the discount store industry average of 29. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Dollar General's stock has gained 83.16% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the discount store industry by 77 percentage points.

Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR) is the third most undervalued discount store stock based on its Valuation Rating of C. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Dollar Tree has a valuation score of 14, which is -15 points higher than the discount store industry average of 29. It passed 1 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Dollar Tree's stock has gained 67.82% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the discount store industry by 61 percentage points.

50% of discount store stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect discount store stocks to rise by 12.43% over the next year.

0% of discount store stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 22.22% of discount store stocks are rated B (Buy), 77.78% are rated C (Hold), 0% are rated D (Sell), and 0% are rated F (Strong Sell).