Piper Sandler has reaffirmed its Overweight rating and $36 price target for Celsius Holdings (NASDAQ: CELH) following concerns over limited shelf space at Walmart, despite the stock’s recent decline.
The firm conducted nine store visits to Walmart locations and observed just one Celsius end cap and two dedicated coolers, indicating under-indexing relative to the company’s market share. Piper Sandler noted that while current distribution levels in U.S. measured retail channels are stable, Celsius has reduced its SKU count and is not expanding its top flavors. However, the analyst team expects improved cooler facings in the coming months.
Celsius stock has fallen 34% over the past six months, trading at $34.34 on Tuesday. The decline follows weaker-than-expected second-quarter results, with adjusted earnings of $0.36 per share on revenue of $817.9 million, missing analyst forecasts of $0.43 per share and $886.0 million, respectively. InvestingPro data shows 16 analysts have recently revised earnings estimates downward.
Peer firms have also adjusted their outlooks. Stephens lowered its price target from $65 to $50 while maintaining an Overweight rating, and Bernstein reduced its target from $44 to $26 while downgrading the stock from Outperform to Market Perform. InvestingPro’s fair value estimate for Celsius remains higher at $43.16.
Broader retail data offers mixed signals. Goldman Sachs reported a 1% increase in total store sales over a recent four-week period, while Bank of America noted a 2.6% year-over-year rise in aluminum can market share in beverage packaging during the same timeframe.
