Street Calls of the Week
Investing.com - Bernstein SocGen Group upgraded Lindt & Spruengli (OTC:COCXF) from Underperform to Market Perform on Friday, while raising its price target to CHF115,000.00 from CHF100,000.00.
The Swiss chocolate maker has shown stronger-than-expected market performance, with growth accelerating significantly in the third quarter compared to the first half of the year. U.S. scanner data shows growth more than doubled to the mid-20% range, while European markets also demonstrated marked improvement.
Bernstein now forecasts 15% full-year organic growth for Lindt, substantially above the company’s own guidance of 9-11%. For the second half specifically, the research firm projects 17.4% growth, positioning its estimate as the highest among analysts covering the stock.
The upgrade reflects Bernstein’s view that both company guidance and consensus estimates appear "markedly too conservative" for the second half of the year. The firm notes that reported results are likely to improve even more given the de-stocking observed in the first half.
Long-term, Bernstein expects Lindt’s growth to moderate toward approximately 7%, which it characterizes as "still amongst the best-in-class across global Consumer Staples," though somewhat lower than the elevated growth anticipated for fiscal years 2025 and 2026.
This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.