TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) is a leading off-price apparel and home fashions retailer. It operates several different branded stores that are beloved by bargain hunters who still want to keep up with the latest fashions and trends.

Walk into TJX’s apparel stores T.J. Maxx and Marshalls and you can walk out with a bag full of clothes from Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL), Calvin Klein and other well-known designers.

And HomeGoods, the company’s home fashion store, has everything that you need for the kitchen, bath, bedroom and living room. And the best part: Everything in TJX’s stores is lower-priced than at department stores. It’s no surprise that these stores are very popular with consumers who are still reeling from the recession and remain focused on getting the most possible value out of each dollar.

In the first quarter, TJX Companies’ sales rose 11% to $5.8 billion compared with $5.2 billion in the same quarter a year ago. During the same period, the company’s earnings rose 61.8% to $419.2 million or 55 cents per share compared with $266 million or 34 cents per share year-on-year.

The analyst community was expecting sales of $5.76 billion and earnings of 54 cents per share, so TJX  modestly beat analyst expectations for both sales and earnings. Looking forward, the company provided 2012 earnings guidance of $2.27 per share to $2.37 per share, up from its previous guidance of $2.21 per share to $2.31 per share.

And the latest news from the company was that TJX Companies’ same-store sales growth rose 4.4% in May, which was significantly higher than analysts’ consensus expectation of a 3.3% rise. So it’s no surprise that in the past three months, the analyst community has revised its consensus forecasted earnings estimate higher by 4.8%.

TJX is a conservative stock that is benefiting from strong sales at its discount stores and is a good buy.