The share price of the FTSE 100-listed Tesco PLC (GB:TSCO) gained around 1% today after German discount retailers Aldi and Lidl reported higher sales in their UK business for the Christmas season, spreading a positive tone about holiday sales among investors. These two retailers have rapidly grown in Britain’s supermarket space.
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The Tesco share price ended 2023 at a gain of 28% in trading.
Tesco is among the leading retailers in the UK, offering a range of groceries and general products. The company operates through various store formats and maintains a significant online presence.
Christmas Cheer
The UK division of Aldi posted an 8% jump in sales in the four weeks that ended on December 24 to over £1.5 billion. Meanwhile, Lidl reported a 12% increase in the same period. On Friday, December 22, both retailers saw record customers and documented their busiest trading day ever.
Aside from Tesco, shares of Sainsbury PLC’s (GB:SBRY), the second largest retailer in the UK, also gained around 1% in trading as of writing today.
Tesco is scheduled to release its Q3 2023 and Christmas trading statements on January 11, 2024.
In its half-yearly trading update in October, Tesco reported an 8.4% increase in its group sales on a constant rate basis. The company’s volume and sales mix surpassed its expectations. Also, adjusted operating profit for the retail business grew by 13.5% to £1.4 billion. The current projection is to achieve adjusted operating profit between £2.6 billion and £2.7 billion for the retail business in the 2023-24 financial year.
Is Tesco Share a Good Buy?
Today, analyst Richard Edwards from Goldman Sachs reiterated his Buy rating on the stock, forecasting a 23% increase in the share price.
Overall, analysts are bullish on TSCO stock, as evidenced by its Strong Buy consensus rating on TipRanks. This includes eight Buys and one Sell recommendation. The average Tesco share price prediction is 321.22p, which is 9.7% higher than the current trading level.
