BUZZ-Penny-pinched shoppers flock to Walmart, Amazon in 2024; dollar stores take a beating

** U.S. retailer Walmart WMT.N and ecommerce giant Amazon.com AMZN.O emerged winners in 2024 by offering convenient shopping services and low prices to entice value-seeking shoppers

** Walmart shares hit a record high in December and have surged 73% this year; the retailer was a go-to destination for lower priced items ranging from toys to home goods, taking market share from rival Target TGT.N

** TGT logs a third straight year of declines. The company resorted to heavier discounts and advertising and warned of a tough holiday season in the latest quarterly earnings

** Discount retailers Dollar Tree DLTR.O and Dollar General DG.N plunged more than 40% this year, as they continued to lose market share to deep-pocketed rivals including WMT

** Price reductions helped U.S. grocer Kroger KR.N rise ~35% YTD even as it ended a deal to buy rival Albertsons ACI.N which in turn fell ~14%

** Shares of home improvement chains Home Depot HD.N and Lowe's LOW.N were up more than 11% each as small-scale home renovations countered lower sales of big-ticket items

** Off-price retailer TJX TJX.N was top of mind for shoppers, logging its biggest annual gain since 2019, while Ross Stores ROST.O rose for third straight year

** The S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary Distribution and Retail index .SPXRT was up about 33% YTD, while the S&P 500 index .SPX was up ~24%

(Reporting by Anuja Bharat Mistry in Bengaluru)

((AnujaBharat.Mistry@thomsonreuters.com))