富国银行对BJ的Wholesale lands的看涨评级

Wells Fargo upgraded BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (NYSE:BJ) to an Overweight rating on Friday after having the retailer set at Equal Weight.

Analyst Edward Kelly said that there was a lot to like about the Q2 earnings report, despite lower full-year guidance. Importantly, Kelly said membership trends for BJ's (BJ) remained robust with MFI growth up 9.1%, comparable sales growth of 2.4%, and traffic accelerating to 4%.

Looking down the road, Wells Fargo expects comparable sales to accelerate for BJ's (BJ) in the coming quarters as membership growth and investment contribute.

Of high interest to investors, a membership fee increase by BJ's (BJ) is expected to give the retailer more firepower.

"While BJ remained measured in its view of a membership fee increase, the tone does seem to be thawing post COST. We continue to see this as a likely '25 catalyst. A fee increase would yield an est. $50m+ ($0.29/share or 30bps of margin). We fully expect this pool of funds to be invested back into customer value, providing further fuel for comp growth. We do not expect negative member feedback given COST's recent move."

Wells Fargo assigned a price target of $92 to BJ's (BJ) to represent a 22X multiple on the 2025 EPS estimate, which was noted to be on the high end of the historic range.

Shares of BJ's Wholesale (BJ) were up 1.0% in premarket trading on Friday.