Rural lifestyle retailer Tractor Supply (NASDAQ: TSCO) saw its sales surge during the back half of 2020 and for the full year of 2021, as the business proved to be a COVID-19 beneficiary. It seems to be holding on to the wave of new customers it gained over the last few years. Indeed, the company's sales growth accelerated during the fourth quarter. In addition, Tractor Supply management said it expected robust growth this year as well.

Here's a look at what's driving the company's impressive business momentum -- and why it is well positioned for further growth in 2023 and beyond.

While Tractor Supply's business is certainly doing well, investors should note that the company benefited from two exceptional events during the quarter. First, the retailer had an extra sales week during the quarter compared to the year-ago period. Management said this accounted for 6.8 percentage points of Tractor Supply's reported year-over-year revenue growth rate of 20.7%. Second, management estimates that severe winter storms in late December helped drive an extra two percentage points of comparable-store sales growth for the period. Nevertheless, the company's net-sales growth and comparable-store sales growth rates were both strong even when excluding these factors.

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Source Fool.com