Bath & Body Works, Inc. cut at Barclays on concerns about driving top-line

Barclays downgraded shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:) to Equal-Weight from Overweight in a note Thursday, raising the price target to $45 from $37 per share.

Analysts at the bank downgraded the stock due to concerns about its top line. Barclays’ fourth quarter checks to date on promotions suggest a struggling top line, according to the analysts.

“BBWI’s stock price has surpassed our prior price target, and shares appear fully valued at these levels,” the analysts wrote. “The key takeaway from our checks is still-aggressive use of promos y/y similar to what we observed throughout CY23, with recent promo activity implying sustained negative sales.”

“While we believe this view is widely expected (consensus 4Q23 y/y sales growth is -2.4%), we see limited upside to BBWI should sales continue to be soft into 2024,” the analysts concluded.