e.l.f. Beauty initiated with a Neutral at Baird

Baird analyst Mark Altschwager initiated coverage of e.l.f. Beauty with a Neutral rating and $185 price target. The company offers “incredible value, compelling product innovation, and marketing muscle”, which have catapulted e.l.f. Beauty to a leading player in the mass cosmetics market, and there is “plenty of runway ahead”, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Baird adds however that its near-term enthusiasm is tempered by the stock’s current 52-times expected earnings valuation, which leaves “little room for error”, also noting that the stock is likely already incorporating some upside to Street estimates against the rising risk of compression as growth decelerates.