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COTY Pulls Up Q1 View on Solid Demand for Beauty & Skin Care

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Coty Inc. (COTY - Free Report) is keen on establishing a solid skincare portfolio as part of its focus on six strategic pillars. Keeping along these lines, the company expects to double its skincare revenues to $500-600 million by fiscal 2025, with further acceleration in fiscal 2023 and beyond.

Coty is witnessing solid beauty demand in the near term, pushing management to raise its first-quarter fiscal 2023 LFL sales growth view. Management now expects the metric to grow 8-9%, compared with the previous view of a 6-8% increase, adjusting for the impact of the Russia exit. The raised view is supported by Prestige and Consumer Beauty performance and Europe, the Americas and Global Travel Retail. The company also believes that the solid sales momentum will generate stronger gross margins, despite persistent inflationary pressures.

A robust fiscal first-quarter view led Coty to reiterate the previously issued fiscal 2023 view despite ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty. Adjusting for the impact of the Russia exit, management expects 6-8% LFL sales growth in fiscal 2023. Full-year adjusted EBITDA is projected in the range of $955-$965 million. Management anticipates fiscal 2023 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) growth in the mid-teens percentage to 32-33 cents.

Solid skincare business and continued momentum in the rest of the Coty business propelled the company to reinforce its medium-term financial targets. The projects include a 6-8% LFL sales growth and a 9-11% adjusted EBITDA increase. The projection also includes a low 20s EPS CAGR through fiscal 2025.

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Skincare Transformation on Track  

The Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company boasts a solid skincare portfolio comprising well-known brands, scientific innovation and leadership and exceptional patents and intellectual property. Coty’s portfolio consists of impressive prestige skincare brands, namely Lancaster, Orveda, philosophy, Kylie Skin and SKKN by Kim.

Management is on track with the transformation of its skincare portfolio. As a result, Lancaster has become one of the fastest growing brands across Hainan among key retailers in the past year. The company will focus on distinct and superior technologies across five key areas, including oxygen delivery, full-light protection, DNA repair, retinol vectorization and bio-fermented blends.

Strength in Coty’s technology, brands and commercial capabilities keeps it well-placed to capture opportunities in the $150 billion global skincare market.

COTY’s shares have dipped 0.9% in the past year compared with the industry’s 44.2% decline.

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks are Inter Parfums (IPAR - Free Report) , e.l.f. Beauty (ELF - Free Report) and The J. M. Smucker (SJM - Free Report) .

Inter Parfums is engaged in the manufacturing, distribution and marketing of a wide range of fragrances and related products. IPAR currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Inter Parfums’ current financial year sales and EPS suggests growth of 15% and 18.6%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s reported figures. IPAR has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 31.1%, on average.

e.l.f. Beauty, a cosmetic company, currently has a Zacks Rank #2. ELF has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of almost 77%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for e.l.f. Beauty’s current financial year sales and EPS suggests growth of 16.8% and almost 6%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s reported figures.

J. M. Smucker, which manufactures and markets branded food and beverage products, carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. J. M. Smucker has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 20.8%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SJM’s current financial year sales suggests growth of 4.4% from the year-ago period’s reported figure.

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