Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac shares tumble after conservatorship comments
On Thursday, CFRA analyst Danny Yeo Sze Wai confirmed a Buy rating and a DKK1,000.00 price target for Carlsberg (CSE:CARLb) A/S (CARLB:DC) (OTC: CABGY (OTC:CABGY)). The reiteration comes after evaluating the company’s financial performance and future earnings potential. With a market capitalization of $15.7 billion, Carlsberg stands as a prominent player in the global beverages industry. According to InvestingPro analysis, the stock appears undervalued relative to its Fair Value, supported by strong fundamentals including a 24-year track record of consistent dividend payments. Yeo provided insights into the company’s 2024 financial results and 2025 projections, noting that Carlsberg’s revenue for 2024 reached DKK75.01 billion, aligning with the consensus estimate of DKK74.97 billion. The slight organic growth of 2.4% experienced by the company was primarily driven by a 2.0% increase in pricing, complemented by a modest 0.4% rise in volume. InvestingPro data reveals the company maintains healthy profitability with a gross margin of 45.5% and has demonstrated consistent revenue growth with a 5-year CAGR of 3%.
Despite a 1.0% decrease in beer volumes in China for 2024, Carlsberg managed to expand its market share by approximately 30 basis points. According to Yeo, this success reflects the strength of Carlsberg’s product offerings in the Chinese market. Additionally, Carlsberg’s organic operating profit grew by 6.0% in 2024, hitting the higher end of the company’s forecast range of 4%-6%.
Looking ahead, Carlsberg anticipates organic operating profit growth ranging from 1% to 5% for 2025. This projection is significantly influenced by the anticipated loss of the San Miguel brand in the U.K., which is expected to negatively impact profit growth by 2%-3%. Moreover, the integration of Britvic (LON:BVIC) is seen as potentially margin-dilutive in the short term. For deeper insights into Carlsberg’s financial health and growth prospects, investors can access comprehensive analysis and additional ProTips through InvestingPro’s detailed research reports, which cover over 1,400 top stocks globally. In response to these projections and the company’s performance, Yeo adjusted the earnings per share (EPS) estimate for 2025 to DKK64.90, up from the previous DKK61.30, and established a starting point for the 2026 EPS at DKK68.00.
The analyst’s price target suggests that Carlsberg’s stock is valued at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 15.4x for 2025. This valuation is consistent with the industry’s average forward P/E ratio of 15.1x. The maintained price target and updated EPS estimates underline CFRA’s positive outlook on Carlsberg’s stock performance.
In other recent news, Carlsberg A/S has seen its stock rating downgraded by both BNP Paribas (OTC:BNPQY) Exane and Barclays (LON:BARC) due to concerns stemming from various challenges in key markets. BNP Paribas Exane adjusted the beer company’s stock from an Outperform to a Neutral rating, citing concerns about Carlsberg’s mid-term beer volume growth, heavily reliant on the Chinese market. The firm also revised the price target to DKK 795.00, a decrease from the previous DKK 980.00.
Meanwhile, Barclays downgraded Carlsberg’s shares from Equalweight to Underweight, adjusting the price target to DKK698.00 from the previous DKK829.49. This decision reflects concerns over the company’s end markets, which are facing demographic issues, economic uncertainty, and low consumer confidence in China, and an ageing population and a persistent decline in per-capita consumption in Western Europe.
In light of these challenges, Carlsberg is diversifying its portfolio, including a strategic pivot towards Pepsi bottling. The acquisition of Britvic, which will expand Carlsberg’s presence in the soft drink sector, is expected to be finalized early next year. These recent developments underscore the potential headwinds facing Carlsberg and the adjustment of growth expectations for the coming fiscal year.
This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.