Earlier this week, Goldman Sachs upgraded Rite Aid (RAD -43.53%) stock from neutral to buy, and increased its price target to $8. While the company has had some major struggles over the past few years, suffering a total net loss of $1.4 billion between 2010 and 2012, this week's upgrade was largely based on the company cleaning up its balance sheet, closing unprofitable stores, and moving toward a turnaround. But while the company did report a profit of $118 million last year, with shares up nearly 300% for the year, the latest numbers from Rite Aid did not look very strong.
In this video, Motley Fool consumer goods analyst Mark Reeth takes a look at the bear case for the stock, but gives investors several factors to keep in mind that he thinks will offset the bearish view. He agrees with Goldman here: He sees the turnaround happening, and thinks Rite Aid is an easy under-the-radar buy today.
