The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is having a fairly awful start to this short week of trading. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has lost a nasty 1.9% after falling by as much as 2.4% earlier this morning. But one ASX 200 blue-chip share, in particular, seems to be escaping unscathed today. That would be the Endeavour Group Ltd (ASX: EDV) share price.
Endeavour is the alcohol and pubs company that was spun out of Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) last year. It owns the Dan Murphy's and BWS bottle shop chains, as well as Woolies' old pub assets.
At the time of writing, the Endeavour share price is up a healthy 1.3% so far today. It goes without saying that that is a marked outperformance of the broader markets.
So what is sparing Endeavour shares from the fate of most of the other ASX 200 shares today?
Why is the Endeavour share price popping its cork today?
Well, it's not entirely clear. There hasn't been any news out of Endeavor today. Or indeed since its quarterly trading update that was released last week. As my Fool colleague Brooke covered at the time, this saw Endeavour report a 2.1% slip in sales over the three months to 3 April 2022.
So it's possible that today's strong performance from Endeavour is a result of the company's nature. As we reported with Woolworths earlier today, investors often flock to the 'safety' of consumer staples shares like Endeavour in times of market fear and selling pressure. Food, drinks and vices like alcohol tend to have a reputation as 'recession-proof' products. As such, many investors feel safer owning these kinds of companies in times of uncertainty – such as today's market-wide selloff.
That could explain why other businesses in Endeavour's consumer staples sector, such as Woolies, Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL), Metcash Limited (ASX: MTS) and Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE), are all doing far better than the ASX 200 today.
At the current Endeavour share price, this ASX 200 blue-chip has a market capitalisation of $13.92 billion, with a dividend yield of 3.22%.
