Benzinga - by Shivani Kumaresan, Benzinga Staff Writer.
Yesterday, Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE: PG) reported first-quarter FY24 sales and EPS above the street view.
Analysts from Morgan Stanley, Stifle and Raymond James gave their opinions of the results.
Morgan Stanley: Maintains Overweight Rating And $174 Price Target
The company maintaining FY EPS guidance was better than the analyst Dara Mohsenian expected, with PG swallowing a 3% FX and 1% tax rate EPS hit and still pointing toward the high-end of its prior guidance.
The analyst notes PG's conference call tone was positive, pointing to sequential volume improvement excluding a soft China, strengthening PG sequential share trends, and an unchanged promotional/tradedown environment despite consumer pressure.
The analyst sees FY24 visibility as high with assumed reinvestment and GM tailwinds, and importantly PG's guidance now extends out for longer than peers in an uncertain CPG environment given the timing of its fiscal year.
Stifel: Maintains Hold Rating, Raises Price Target From $151 to $155
Analyst Mark S.Astrachan raised FY24-FY25 EPS estimates slightly following strong Q1FY24 results led by gross margin meaningfully above consensus.
The analyst anticipates gross margin expansion to continue but at a lesser rate on a y/y basis in F2Q24 as benefits from pricing and commodities lessen, with productivity to remain the same, and with FX pressure to worsen.
All-in the analyst thinks P&G continues to execute well in a dynamic global macroeconomic environment.
Raymond James: Maintains Outperform Rating And $170 Price Target
Analyst Olivia Tong said PG reported a strong 1Q with sales, gross margin, and operating margin, beating the analyst's estimates.
Strength continues to be broad-based, with no discernable signs of tradedown amongst consumers, and value and volume share both up y/y in Q1, said the analyst.
Consumer stocks have underperformed of late on concerns of trade down, ability for companies to hold pricing, and the relative attractiveness of defensives, but PG has shown its ability to maintain top-line momentum while pricing and generating savings to continue funding reinvestment, noted the analyst.
Price Action: PG shares are trading lower by 0.62% at $148.17 on the last check Thursday.
Latest Ratings for PG
| Jan 2022 | RBC Capital | Maintains | Sector Perform | |
| Jan 2022 | Deutsche Bank | Maintains | Buy | |
| Jan 2022 | Morgan Stanley | Maintains | Overweight |
View the Latest Analyst Ratings
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