11:35 AM EDT, 05/03/2024 (MT Newswires) -- CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:

We lift our 12-month target $2 to $204, 21x our 2024 EPS of $9.70 (up from $9.62; 2025 cut to $10.22 from $10.33) vs. the 24x long-term average. Q1 adj-EPS of $3.07 (+4% Y/Y) beat by $0.31 on sales of $3,252M (+8.9% Y/Y). The beat was due to inventory build ahead of an ERP implemented (+7 points to sales growth). This tailwind from Q1 will likely reverse in Q2 and negatively impact sales and gross margin. HSY's base business (ex-ERP noise) grew 2% Y/Y, driven by pricing, a strong Valentine's season (Easter was softer), and solid growth in Dot's. HSY's everyday confectionery business continues to face softness, along with SkinnyPop. HSY is gearing up to hike prices in 2025 due to surging cocoa costs. HSY is fully covered on cocoa for this year and is likely waiting until this fall to cover more of its 2025 cocoa needs. HSY and MDLZ seem to be betting on cocoa costs coming down later this year (cocoa futures up ~90% YTD), as the recent volatility in cocoa is likely due to more than just supply/demand dynamics.