Stephens raises ‘most conservative’ card company Bread Financial to Overweight

As previously reported, Stephens analyst Vincent Caintic upgraded Bread Financial to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $64 price target given his view that Bread is "the most conservative Credit Card company" he covers from both its financial position and the management culture. He thinks Bread’s guidance and below peer metrics result from conservatism, rather than Bread underperforming peers, and Caintic said management’s mindset is aligned with his own cautious stance on consumer credit, versus other card companies that he thinks "appear more optimistic for 2023." His 2023 EPS forecast for Bread is up 11% from prior and is 59% above consensus, the analyst noted.