CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:
We cut our 12-month target to $197 from $208, 20x our 2024 EPS of $9.86 (cut from $9.92; 2023 up by a penny to $9.47) vs. the 25x long-term average. A discount is warranted, as HSY is seeing heavy cost inflation related to labor, cocoa, and sugar, along with category softness within its everyday confectionery business and parts of its Salty Snacks business (e.g., Pirate’s Booty, SkinnyPop). HSY’s seasonal business is, however, doing well, as more manufacturing capacity has come online this year. In addition, the Dot’s pretzels brand is doing well following permanent distribution into Costco. Q3 adj-EPS of $2.60 (+20% Y/Y) beat by $0.15 on revenues of $3,030M (+11% Y/Y). Salty Snacks grew 25% Y/Y but benefited from planned inventory increases ahead of an ERP transition (was a 16-point benefit this quarter; could be a headwind in Q4). Full-year guidance was unchanged, which implies a softer-than-expected Q4. GLP-1s are not having a material impact on business at this point in time. We lift to Hold on valuation.