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Investing.com -- Citi initiated coverage of Celsius Holdings (NASDAQ:CELH) with a Buy rating and a $55 price target given strong near-term momentum in the U.S. energy drink market and long-term international growth opportunities.
Citi expects Celsius to benefit from accelerating sales in 2025, helped by both its core Celsius brand and the recently acquired Alani Nu, which is expanding distribution and product innovation.
The firm projects second-quarter sales growth of 66.4%, ahead of the 60.7% consensus, and full-year 2025 growth of 63.8%.
In the longer term, Citi sees room for substantial distribution gains. The company’s total distribution points (TDPs) remain significantly below those of Monster and Red Bull, offering room for domestic share gains.
Internationally, Celsius derives just 5% of its revenue from outside the U.S., compared with roughly 40% for Monster, suggesting meaningful white space.
Citi forecasts 12% annual topline growth through 2030, including 25% growth internationally, and sees 25% annual EPS growth over the same period, supported in part by cost synergies from the Alani Nu deal.
While acknowledging concerns around valuation, Celsius trades at about 36 times 2026 earnings—Citi argues the stock looks more reasonable on a growth-adjusted basis, with a PEG ratio of 1.2 versus peer averages near 2.6.
Risks noted include potential volatility between scanner data and reported results, innovation-driven growth that may be harder to sustain, overlap between the Celsius and Alani brands, and already-positive investor sentiment.
Still, Citi believes distribution expansion and brand differentiation can offset those concerns.