Estee Lauder price target raised to $180 from $145 at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI raised the firm’s price target on Estee Lauder to $180 from $145 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. The duration of China’s cyclical low and attractiveness of Estee’s “post-daigou” businesses in Asia “will remain the focus of investor debate and scrutiny,” but the operating deleverage from resetting inventories in Asia duty-frees much lower is close to an end, the analyst tells investors. Share gains in China skincare, which coincided with a lift in comps in freestanding stores, increased the firm’s confidence in Estee China’s earnings power, the analyst added.