Estee Lauder price target lowered to $290 from $300 at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer lowered the firm’s price target on Estee Lauder to $290 from $300 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares ahead of quarterly results. Following multiple quarters of negative EPS revisions due primarily to China’s COVID-19-related challenges and FX, the firm expects one last challenged delivery. Oppenheimer believes management’s Q3 guidance has incorporated significant headwinds related to China/Travel Retail COVID-19 headwinds. As a result, it expects results to at least match management’s prior implied expectations for an adjusted EPS decline of 75%-81%. However, for Q4, the firm is now baking in a less robust recovery in travel retail versus its prior expectations. This is driven by seemingly cautious commentary on travel retail from other players lately and the potential for a longer recovery process for the normalization of international travel for Chinese consumers.