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Prestige Consumer Stock Up 29.9% in a Year: What's Behind the Surge?

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Prestige Consumer Healthcare (PBH - Free Report) has achieved impressive growth over the past year, with its shares rising 29.9%. It has outperformed the industry’s 11.6% rise and the S&P 500 composite’s 24.7% gain.

Presently carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), the renowned consumer health company benefits from its diverse lineup of brands and consistent brand-building initiatives. Robust marketing tactics play a crucial role for the brands to consistently hold a leading market share position, while strength in the e-commerce channel also bodes well.

New York-based Prestige Consumer and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture, market, sell and distribute over-the-counter (OTC) healthcare and household cleaning products in the United States, Canada, Australia and certain other international markets. The company has expanded its product portfolio both organically and through acquisitions. Acquisitions of consumer health and personal care brands have also been an important part of its growth strategy.

Factors Favoring PBH’s Growth

The rally in the share price can be linked to the company’s diverse portfolio of well-recognized consumer brands, some having a legacy of more than 100 years. The products benefit from robust marketing strategies designed to enhance sales growth and long-term profitability. Core brands like BC and Goody's, Chloraseptic, Compound W, Dramamine, Fess, Fleet, Hydralyte, Monistat, Nix and Summer's Eve accounted for nearly 58.6% of the total revenues in fiscal 2024.

Prestige Consumer places a high emphasis on brand building and product innovation in niche consumer healthcare categories to better improve the lives of consumers. In Goody’s, the company leveraged consumer insights and introduced targeted offerings, like Goody's Hangover and Goody's headache powders. Another iconic franchise, Dramamine, has begun addressing the distinctive nausea market with new nausea offerings, where it now remains a category leader. The Nix brand has also gradually expanded its product assortment with consumers over time, backed by effective marketing to capitalize on category incident levels. Furthermore, Prestige Consumer continues to make strides in the women's health franchise, with two top-performing brands — Monistat and Summers Eve.

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In the Eye & Ear Care category, the company has built a strong reputation with leading names like Clear Eyes, TheraTears and Debrox. Despite supply-chain challenges impacting the Clear Eyes business, it was recognized as the largest OTC brand in the category in terms of retail units in the second quarter of fiscal 2025. Internationally, Prestige Consumer has a well-positioned portfolio in Canada comprising many leading brands in niche categories. In the fiscal second quarter, the International OTC Healthcare business increased 5% year over year, led by strong growth in the Hydralyte brand.

Investors are also upbeat about the company’s significant investments in the e-commerce channel over the last several years, which have been delivering impressive results. These strategic investments in online content and digital advertising have positioned Prestige Consumer for further growth.  Simultaneously, the company has been maintaining a consistent profit profile across all its distribution channels.

Concerns for PBH

Prestige Consumer faces challenges from the ongoing economic volatility, including supply-chain constraints, rising interest rates, a high inflationary environment and geopolitical events. These factors could potentially affect both pricing and demand for the company’s products.  On top of that, the introduction of new innovative product innovations or lower-priced alternatives from other players could negatively impact Prestige Consumer’s business.

A Glance at PBH’s Estimates

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Prestige Consumer’s fiscal 2025 and 2026 earnings per share (EPS) is expected to increase 5.9% and 6.7% year over year, respectively, to $4.46 and $4.76. In the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company's fiscal 2025 EPS has increased by 2 cents.

Revenues for fiscal 2025 are projected to grow 0.7% to $1.13 billion, followed by a 2.4% increase to $1.16 billion in fiscal 2026.

Key MedTech Stocks

Some other top-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Veracyte (VCYT - Free Report) , Haemonetics (HAE - Free Report) and Cardinal Health (CAH - Free Report) .

Veracyte has an estimated 2024 earnings growth rate of 37.2% compared with the industry’s 15.3%. Its earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 520.6%. Its shares have risen 53.9% compared with the industry’s 7.3% growth in the past year.

VCYT sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Haemonetics, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present, has an estimated fiscal 2025 earnings growth rate of 15.9% compared with the industry’s 12.3%. Shares of the company have declined 13.3% against the industry’s 11.7% growth. HAE’s earnings surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed on one occasion, with the average surprise being 2.82%.

Cardinal Health, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present, has a long-term estimated earnings growth rate of 10.5%. Shares of the company have surged 19.9% compared with the industry’s 4.6% growth. CAH’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 11.24%.

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