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Investors Business Daily
Business
HARRISON MILLER

Sweetgreen Soars, Funko Posts Profit, ELF Beauty Tumbles

Sweetgreen stock vaulted Friday after the salad restaurant chain reported Q2 results and received a number of price target updates. Funko stock leapt Friday as the collectibles maker swung to a profit. ELF Beauty carved lower on its results.

Sweetgreen reported a loss of 13 cents per share, improving from a loss of 24 cents the same quarter last year. Revenue jumped 21% to $184.6 million. FactSet expected a loss of 9 cents per share on $180.8 million in sales.

Same-store sales for the Los Angeles-based chain accelerated to 9% growth, compared to a 3% increase last year. Analysts expected 5.9% comparable sales growth. The company's restaurant-level profit margin grew to 22% from 20% for the prior year.

For the year, Sweetgreen guided revenue to between $670 million and $680 million, up from $584 million in 2023. The revenue guidance was roughly in-line with FactSet expectations of $680.2 million. Sweetgreen expects same-store sales will grow 5% to 7% for the year and plans to open 24 to 26 new restaurants.

UBS on Friday hiked its price target for Sweetgreen stock to 37 from 31 and maintained a buy rating on the shares, The Fly reported. The company's Q2 results showed strong same-store sales growth and traffic as well as solid margin expansion. Sweetgreen has also made progress on its automated restaurants, called Infinite Kitchens, which supports a compelling long-term growth outlook. The chain's leading store development, kitchen automation plans, menu innovation and customer loyalty should support same-store sales and EBITDA growth over the coming years to drive further upside, UBS wrote.

Morgan Stanley and Citi also raised their price targets on SG stock modestly Friday.

Sweetgreen bolted 33.3% higher Friday to gap up well above its 50-day moving average. Shares are still about 5% below an early June high.

SG stock has careened up almost 210% in 2024.

ELF Beauty

ELF Beauty reported fiscal Q1 2025 earnings of $1.10 per share adjusted on a 50% revenue spike to $324.5 million. Earnings were flat from last year but beat forecasts for 83 cents per share. FactSet expected $306.7 million in sales.

The cosmetics company raised its 2025 outlook after the report. ELF sees net sales increasing 25% to 27% to range from $1.28 billion to $1.3 billion, compared to its prior guidance of 20% to 22% growth. ELF guided 2025 adjusted earnings to between $3.36 to $3.41 per share, from its previous outlook of $3.20 to $3.25 per share.

Baird on Friday said the sales and earnings beat ran to the higher end of annual guidance. Still, sales fell short of more aggressive forecasts and the Q2 margin guidance implied more weighted earnings in the second half of the year than previously anticipated. But Baird raised its price target on ELF stock to 240 from 230 and kept an overweight rating on the shares, The Fly reported.

Meanwhile, JPMorgan on Friday said that ELF's sell-off presents a buying opportunity. Investors are too concerned about the "low bar" guidance for the second-quarter, JPMorgan said. It cut its price target on ELF stock to 207 from 224 but maintained an overweight rating on the shares.

ELF stock plunged more than 14% Friday, tumbling further below its 50-day line.

ELF stock has pared its gains on the year to 11.6%.

Funko

Collectibles maker Funko on Thursday reported Q2 adjusted earnings of 10 cents per share, improving from a loss of 43 cents in Q2 last year. Revenue rose about 3% to $247.7 million. The results were well above FactSet expectations of a 16-cent per-share loss on $231 million in sales.

Inventory levels declined to $109 million for the quarter from $112.3 million at the end of March. The company also reduced its debt level by $22.5 million over the quarter to $223.9 million.

Core collectible sales rose 6.4% to $186.74 million. However, sales for the company's lifestyle brand Loungefly fell 13.4% to $41.48 million.

The report was the first under new CEO Cynthia Williams, who joined Funko on May 20. Williams previously served as the president of Hasboro's Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Gaming Division. In that role she oversaw some of Hasbro's most successful properties, including Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, and Monopoly.

Funko on Thursday also appointed Yves Le Pendeven as chief financial officer, who most-recently served as acting CFO during his five-year tenure with Funko.

Funko guided Q3 earnings between 1 cent and 6 cents per share, while FactSet forecasts earnings of 2 cents per share. The company reported a loss of 87 cents per share adjusted in 2023. Funko expects 2024 sales to range from $1.047 billion to $1.103 billion, compared to $1.09 billion in revenue last year. The revenue guidance was in-line with analyst expectations of $1.07 billion in sales.

Funko rallied 11.3% Friday to spike above its 50-day line.

FNKO stock is consolidating with a 10.53 buy point.

Shares have jumped 24.5% in 2024.

You can follow Harrison Miller for more stock news and updates on X/Twitter @IBD_Harrison

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