Estée Lauder stock had the biggest gain in the S&P 500 on Thursday after the cosmetics company snagged a ratings upgrade.
In a research note titled âCinderella Story,â BofA Securities analysts led by Bryan Spillane upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral. They raised their target for the price to $170 from $160.
Estée Lauder stock was up 5.3%…
stock had the biggest gain in the
on Thursday after the cosmetics company snagged a ratings upgrade.
In a research note titled âCinderella Story,â BofA Securities analysts led by Bryan Spillane upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral. They raised their target for the price to $170 from $160.
Estée Lauder stock was up 5.3% to $152.75 in Thursday trading.
The team believes earnings have hit bottom. Growth in sales and profit should reaccelerate as fiscal 2024 draws to a close, they said. Estée Lauderâs fiscal year ends in June.
âELâs response to the volatile operating environment since FY21 has pushed the company to develop a muscular new product funnel, identify margin expansion levers, and stabilize sales and profit contribution from China,â the analysts wrote.
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âIn our view, these improvements should net to deliver healthier growth and margins in line with their +6-8% sales growth and double-digit earnings per share growth algorithm.â
In February, the company said it was cutting staff as it posted better-than-expected quarterly results.
Write to Emily Dattilo at emily.dattilo@dowjones.com
