Carrefour shares were up 6.6 percent in early trading and among the top performers on European markets <.STOXX>.

HSBC raised its rating on Carrefour to "buy" from "hold", while Barclays raised its price target on the stock.

"Carrefour's numbers look good, with Europe and especially France stabilising," Montaigne Capital fund manager Pierre Willot said.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; editing by Jason Neely)