JPMorgan Chase says now is the right time to jump into Vipshop shares. The bank upgraded the stock to overweight after announcing Vipshop’s first-quarter results earlier this week. JPMorgan also set its price target at $18, representing a more than 20% increase from the stock’s close on Wednesday. “We believe Vipshop (VIPS) will be the best defensive play in China e-commerce in the next six months in terms of earnings visibility/upside risk… and the stock price correction over the past week (-13% vs. KWEB -6%) offers entry point for investors,” analyst Andre Chang wrote in a note Thursday. VIPS 1D mountain VIPS jumps “Its focus on apparel and accessories (70%+ of sales) and discount sales give it a cyclical tailwind that we think will further surprise market expectations in the coming quarters after the 1Q23 period,” he added. The analyst said the company’s earnings could continue to grow by 6% annually over the next two years through a $1 billion share buyback program. He estimates that could add more than 10% to earnings per share, which is not reflected in the firm’s estimates. “We expect more surprises in the coming quarters,” Chang said. “Despite intensifying competition, we believe VIPS’ price competitiveness as a discount channel is sufficient to secure its dedicated user base (40 million+ quarterly and 80 million+ annually), which is small enough to generate some increase despite cyclical fluctuations in this category. , in our view, this means VIPS should be able to sustain growth with limited investment.” The stock rose 2.1% in premarket trading on Thursday, after rising 5.3% in the previous session. The stock rose 9% year-to-date, 4%.— CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
