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(Sharecast News) - Analysts at Berenberg hiked their target price on sportswear retailer JD Sports from 128p to 155p on Thursday, stating it played "an important role in the market".
Berenberg said JD Sports' recently released Q2 trading was in line with consensus expectations, with the 3.0% fall in like-for-like sales reflecting "the relatively tough prior year comparative", due to the UEFA Euro football competition and Paris Olympics, which both took place in summer 2024.
The German bank, which has a 'buy' rating on the stock, stated that, as the leading sportswear distributor globally, with 80% of sales accounted for by physical stores, JD Sports provides hundreds of external sporting goods brands with "an important route to market", particularly via physical stores. As such, Berenberg said it fulfils a function that was "unmet by online marketplaces and the brands' own direct-to-consumer online operations".
Berenberg highlighted that JD has long-established relationships with many of the brands it stocks, with half of its apparel sales and 30% of its footwear sales relating to exclusive lines. It also noted that JD does not consider the direct impact of Donald Trump's ongoing tariff wars to be material, even if indirect effects remain uncertain.
"Factoring in a 14m FX hit in H1 and taking a slightly more cautious approach to our sales estimates, we reduce our current year adjusted PBT estimate by 3%, from 901m to 872m. Our outer-year profit estimates fall due to the lower base. Our DCF valuation has been reduced along with our profit estimates, from 196p to 155p, but we now move our previously cautious price target of 128p upwards. This is now in line with our DCF valuation, at 155p," said Berenberg.
BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Currys on Thursday to 'outperform' from 'neutral' and lifted its target price to 135p from 115p as it said the iD Mobile business is an underappreciated driver of the company's growth, "enhancing sales, margins, and underpinning valuation".
It noted that iD Mobile was worth nearly one-third of Currys' market capitalisation and stated its leading price proposition can continue to attract subscribers, driving sales and expanding gross margins.
Other drivers include a tech replacement cycle, new product categories, margin-accretive services, and B2B investments, BNP said.
BNP said that with a stronger balance sheet, share buybacks "are on the horizon" and noted that gross margin expansion should come from the sale of mobile services in the UK & Ireland and a focus on profitable sales and services in the Nordics. The bank expects this to enable Currys to achieve its target of "at least" 3% adjusted EBIT margins by FY Apr-29E.