Stifel analyst Mark Astrachan raised the firm’s price target on Monster Beverage to $78 from $71 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The stock closed Friday down 66c to 69.74. The analyst thinks Monster’s 2020 U.S. sales could exceed 7.0%, more than 100 basis points above consensus expectations of 5.5% to 6.0%, driven by accelerating Reign sales, pending innovation, and improving legacy Monster sales. Reign sales have accelerated since Fall 2019, now accounting for 3.6% market share of the U.S. energy drink market, Astrachan tells investors in a research note. Further, lower aluminum costs provide more favorable U.S. gross margin and could bring modest upside to earnings estimates, adds the analyst.
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