The Wayfair (W -8.36%) bulls are on the loose following the unveiling of the furniture e-tailer's latest quarterly results. One of them is John Blackledge, an analyst at Cowen (COWN), who lifted his price target today to $360 from the previous $350 while reiterating his outperform (buy) recommendation on the shares.
That shows a lot of confidence in the company; Blackledge's new price target is 33% above Wayfair's most recent closing share price.
Image source: Wayfair.
His upward revision comes just after the release of Wayfair's impressive third-quarter figures. The company's revenue for the period zoomed nearly 67% higher (to $3.8 billion), and it flipped dramatically into the black on the bottom line with a net profit of $2.30 per share. This was on the back of very robust 51% growth in what Wayfair calls "active customers," who now tally 28.8 million.
Revenue beat the average analyst projection of $3.66 billion, while the earnings figure was far ahead of the consensus estimate of $0.80.
Wayfair operates exclusively online, giving it an advantage over rivals with a far heavier brick-and-mortar presence, particularly during the current pandemic that continues to keep people effectively quarantined at home. The company's product mix is also ideal for these times, in which many of us are spending nearly all of our hours in our residences.
Blackledge believes that these dynamics, combined with savings in operating expenditures, will continue to keep the company in the black. The analyst was also encouraged by Wayfair's quarter-to-date figures for its current fourth quarter, which were strong in the run-up to the holiday season that is so crucial for retailers.
