- Core & Main Inc (NYSE:CNM) has been upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight by Barclays analyst Matthew Bouley.
- The analyst also raised the price target to $34 (an upside of 42%) from $32.
- The analyst shifted to a more defensive posture amidst interest rates likely rising more than anticipated under a prior favorable view of homebuilders.
- The analyst considers Core & Main an ongoing beneficiary of the current market dynamics that prefer industrial distributors.
- RBC Capital analyst Mike Dahl lowered the price target to $31 (an upside of 29%) from $33 while maintaining the Outperform rating on the shares.
- Truist Securities analyst Keith Hughes also lowered the price target to $28 (an upside of 17%) from $32 and maintained the Hold rating on the shares.
- Recently, Core & Main reported its fourth-quarter results, with net sales growth of 50% year-over-year to $1.25 billion, beating the consensus of $1.13 billion.
- EPS of $0.28 topped the consensus of $0.22.
- The gross profit margin expanded by 170 bps to 26.2%.
- Adjusted EBITDA increased 113% Y/Y to $151 million, and margin expanded by 360 bps to 12.1%
- "As we look across fiscal 2022, we expect net sales to grow in the high single to the low double-digit range, with strong growth in the first half of the year but moderating in the second half with more difficult comparisons. We expect Adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $595 million to $635 million," commented CEO Steve LeClair.
- Price Action: CNM shares are trading lower by 2.28% at $24.00 on the last check Thursday.
