08:05 AM EDT, 04/30/2024 (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 maintain a 12-month target of $75, based on a '25 P/E of 12.3x, a discount to TAP's 10-year mean forward P/E of 16.0x. We raise our adjusted EPS estimates to $6.00 from $5.70 for '24 and to $6.10 from $5.75 for '25. TAP posts Q1 adjusted EPS of $0.95 vs. $0.54 (+76%), well ahead of the $0.75 consensus. The beat was driven by stronger-than-expected sales and margins, as net sales rose 10.7% to $2.60B ($90M ahead of consensus), on improved price/sales mix (+4.4%) and higher financial volumes (+5.7%). Gross margin expanded 430 bps to 37.1% (150 bps above consensus). TAP maintained prior 2024 guidance, but we believe the forecast is likely to prove conservative following the strong Q1 results. TAP also repurchased 1.76M shares for $111M during Q1. We think TAP's results should alleviate concerns about more difficult comps, as its North American market share gains annualize. TAP's recent de-leveraging is notable, as its net debt/TTM EBITDA ratio fell to 2.3x at the end of Q1 versus 3.0x one year earlier.