What happened
Investors weren't thrilled about the latest news coming from Oatly Group (OTLY 0.97%), and that also applies to analysts tracking the stock. After the oat milk purveyor reported its latest quarterly results Monday morning, not one but two prognosticators became notably more bearish on the stock the following day. The market took heed, and the stock closed nearly 5% lower in price.
So what
The larger bear of the pair was Bank of America Securities' Bryan Spillane. Before market open, he cut his price target on Oatly stock to $2.58 per share from his preceding $3.00. He maintained his neutral recommendation on the stock as he did so.
His peer Kaumil Gajrawala at Credit Suisse made a similar move, making a slightly less drastic adjustment by reducing his level to $3.30. Formerly, he had estimated Oatly's value at $3.43 per share. Like Spillane, he kept his neutral recommendation on the shares intact.
Now what
It wasn't immediately clear why either man shaved his price target on Oatly, but it's certainly understandable.
The specialty next-generation beverage company didn't have a good third quarter, as its revenue growth slowed considerably and it posted a deeper-than-expected net loss. The underperformance was attributed to pandemic restrictions in the vast Asia market and production hiccups in this country.
Of more concern to forward-looking investors was Oatly's full-year 2022 top-line guidance, which at $700 million to $720 million is well short of the almost $800 million average analyst estimate for the period.
