Estée Lauder: S&P's biggest gainer, BofA upgrades to buy
March 28, 2024 at 11:50 am EDT
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On Thursday, Estée Lauder shares posted the biggest gain on the S&P 500 index on the New York Stock Exchange, benefiting from a recommendation upgrade by Bank of America, from 'hold' to 'buy' on the cosmetics group's stock.
In a note, the broker believes that the New York-based group's results have now hit a low point, and explains that it expects a reacceleration in both activity and growth.
Estée Lauder's reaction to the volatile operating environment prevailing since 2020 has led the company to beef up its portfolio of new products, identify levers to improve margins and stabilize sales as well as the contribution of results from China", explains the broker.
According to BofA, these initiatives should enable the company to achieve its sales growth target of between 6% and 8%, accompanied by a double-digit increase in earnings per share (EPS).
As a result, the company's price target has been raised from $160 to $170, highlighting a potential upside of over 17%.
At around 11:30 a.m. (New York time), the stock was up over 5%, compared with a rise of just 0.1% for the S&P 500 index.
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The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. is one of the 1st world cosmetics groups. Products are sold under brands (Estée Lauder, Aramis, Clinique, Lab Series, Origins, M·A·C, Bobbi Brown, La Mer, Aveda, Jo Malone London, Bumble and bumble, Darphin, Smashbox, Le Labo, Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle, GLAMGLOW, Kilian Paris, Too Faced, Dr. Jart+, DECIEM and The Ordinary) and under brands of licenses (Tommy Hilfiger, Donna Karan New York, DKNY, Michael Kors, Tom Ford, Dr. Andrew Weil, Ermenegildo Zegna and AERIN). Net sales break down by family of products as follows:
- skin care products (58.4%);
- make-up products (25.9%);
- perfumes (11.9%);
- hair care products (3.5%);
- other (0.3%).
At the end of June 2021, products are marketed through about 1,600 outlets worldwide, distributed between large stores, perfume shops, pharmacies, beauty institutes and exclusive shops, and via Internet.
The group has 10 production sites worldwide.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: Americas (23.4%), Europe/Middle East/Africa (42.8%) and Asia/Pacific (33.8%).