Revolve Group Inc. shares rallied nearly 10% in Tuesday trading after research analysts at Raymond James and Cowen initiated the e-commerce retailer at outperform.
Revolve RVLV, +9.27% began trading on June 7 and is up 4.3% from the closing price on the opening day.
“We believe Revolve’s offering addresses how next-Gen consumers prefer to shop including e-commerce/digital channels, aspire to express individual style, and look to social media and digital content from influencers to inform purchase decisions,” Raymond James wrote.
Revolve had about 2,500 influencers as of June 30, a vast network that leverages their following as well as events like Coachella and Revolve’s own music festival to reach potential customers.
See: Revolve IPO: 5 things you should know about the e-commerce retailer
The company also has 21 owned brands, which Raymond James sees as a “key differentiator.”
“We believe Revolve has been an innovator in social- and influencer-based marketing strategies and had become a preferred partner for influencers,” the Raymond James note said, highlighting that the company drove 56% of traffic from “free and low-cost sources for the 12 months ending March 31, 2019.”
Raymond James has a $40 price target on Revolve stock.
Cowen analysts conducted a national survey and found that one-third of Revolve’s customers shop for clothing every day, it’s a group that pays close attention to trends, they’re social-media savvy, and they like Revolve. Nearly all, 95%, are likely to recommend the site to a friend.
Read: Revolve closes its first trading day up 90%
Moreover, Cowen says that Revolve’s model is hard to duplicate. The company has been tapping into influencers since 2009, even before the launch of Instagram.
“The company is growing sales in the +20% range while also expanding margins via owned brand penetration growth and ongoing operating leverage opportunities,” Cowen said. “Therefore, earnings-per-share growth is expected to be outsized relative to sales – in the +30% range.”
Cowen rates Revolve shares outperform with a $42 price target.
Citron Research, a noted short seller that says that it “has never commented on an IPO” finds Revolve “compelling,” according to a June 10 report. Besides the low customer acquisition cost (about $100) versus the sales it’s generating (about $300 after acquisition), Citron focuses on those owned brands, which are priced similarly to third-party brands.
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Citron had a short-term price target of $50 at the time of its report. It’s trading early Tuesday afternoon at about $36.
“Even the harshest skeptic cannot help but be impressed at the abundance of data supplied by Revolve in their IPO prospectus that illustrate more impressive unit economics than we have seen from any e-commerce IPO,” the report said.
The Amplify Online ETF IBUY, -0.30% has gained 23.1% for the year to date while the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.12% is up 18% for the period.
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