Bath & Body Works price target raised by $8 at BofA, here’s why

BofA analyst Lorraine Hutchinson raised the firm’s price target on Bath & Body Works to $48 from $40 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm, which estimates that Bath & Body will enter 2024 with over $315M of raw material and transportation cost pressure in its cost base compared to 2019, argues that “recuperating this pressure is a sizable margin unlock opportunity” and with the sales inflection de-risked and margin expansion “just beginning” calls the stock “one of the most compelling stocks in our coverage.” The firm’s increased target accounts for a clearer path to sales and margin recovery as well as peer multiple expansion, the analyst noted.