The second half of 2022 is faring a lot better than the first six months of the year. The market has moved higher for all four trading days in July, and the trading holiday on Monday didn't stop the good times from rolling.
A lot of stocks are on the rise. Celsius Holdings (CELH 2.05%), Chewy (CHWY 4.13%), and Levi Strauss (LEVI 1.49%) are three stocks coming through for investors this week. Let's see why they are on the rise.
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1. Celsius Holdings
It's not just Celsius Holdings' sparkling beverages giving folks a boost these days. Celsius stock has soared 17% this trading week heading into Friday's action.
Growth has been on a tear for the distributor of flavored canned beverages that it claims burn calories by improving near-term metabolism rates. You can find Celsius cans everywhere these days, and top-line gains are accelerating.
- 2019: 43% revenue growth
- 2020: 74% revenue growth
- 2021: 140% revenue growth
Revenue soared 167% in the first quarter of 2022. In a market where analysts have been slashing price targets as stocks slide, a bullish Mark Astrachan at Stifel bucked the trend last month by boosting his price goal for Celsius from $67 to $77. The stock closed just above $77 on Thursday. Your move, Stifel.
2. Chewy
One of the biggest surprises is how badly pet stocks have been faring over the past year. Remember when we all took in dogs and cats in 2020 when we realized that we wanted furry companions to weather the storm with during the pandemic? Weren't we supposed to be spoiling them for years? The stocks that were supposed to be obvious beneficiaries of the trend have gone to the dogs.
Chewy could be ready to teach the bear market a new bullish trick. After three straight quarters of disappointing financial results, Chewy finally rose after last month's financial update. The online retailer of pet food, accessories, and other supplies surprised analysts by coming through with a small profit. It had failed to beat bottom-line forecasts in its three previous quarterly updates. The 20.6 million active customers may be just 4% higher than a year ago, but Chewy has seen the average spend per customer climb by almost 15% over the past year.
Investors are ready to warm up to Chewy again. The stock has soared 22% over the past four trading days.
3. Levi Strauss
Let's close things out with some denim. Levi Strauss posted encouraging financial results shortly after Thursday's close. Revenue rose 15% -- or up 20% in constant currency -- to hit $1.47 billion for its fiscal second quarter. Analysts were modeling only $1.43 billion on the top line. The bottom-line beat was even better, as the jeans icon came through with adjusted earnings rising 26% to $0.29 a share. Wall Street was settling for the adjusted profit to clock in flat with the $0.23 a share it posted a year earlier.
With investors watching margins more than ever these days in this climate of inflation and supply chain constraints, it's refreshing to see income growth outpace revenue gains. Levi Strauss also boosted its quarterly dividend by 20%. It now yields 2.9%.
The report wasn't perfect. Levi Strauss simply reaffirmed its guidance on both ends of the income statement. It continues to see 11% to 13% in revenue growth this fiscal year. The $1.50 to $1.56 that it's targeting in adjusted earnings per share is just a 4% uptick at the midpoint of that range. After a solid beat in its latest quarter, it suggests that the second half of the fiscal year won't keep up with analyst expectations. The silver lining there is that we've seen Levi Strauss offer conservative guidance before. In the meantime, we have a growing apparel stock trading for less than 11 times this year's earnings with a yield of nearly 3%. The valuation is as comfortable as a pair of Levi Strauss jeans.
