Keith shorted RL into tomorrow’s print for a TRADE. To be clear on this one, there’s a sharp delineation between where we like RL over each duration. In the event of a sell-off, we'd be looking for a point of entry once the dust settles to get involved with what could be $12 in earnings power.
TAIL (3-Years or Less): This is one of our favorite TAIL ideas, as we think that the consensus is underestimating RL’s 3-year earnings power by nearly a dollar. When we add up the opportunities by country, product category, and most notably – by channel (ie dot.com), we think that people are underestimating the leverage inherent to this model. Specifically, we’re looking at nearly $10 in EPS next year, and over $11.50 the year after. A 10% premium to the market suggests a stock near $175. A 1x PEG is $200+ over 2 years.
TREND (3-Months or More): RL still has a full 75% of its (March) FY left to go, so the company will be guarded into the print. RL laps European category expansion (intro of Polo FW), Denim & Supply, FX, and double digit retail comps – which are tougher to bank on this year.
TRADE (3-Weeks or Less): The company has every reason in the world to offer up a cautious outlook – given all that’s going on in the world – especially Western Europe (it has minimal exposure to China) and the clear trend of other companies putting up weak numbers. Add in the Olympic spending, tough wholesale and store productivity comps, and our analysis that stretches to find more than 10% of CFO changes that end up being a near-term positive earnings event, and we’re more inclined to be on the negative side of this print. This is a perfect ‘buy on pullback’ stock.
