Key Takeaways
- Strategic focus on organic growth and store optimization suggests potential revenue increase and enhanced net margins through improved store layouts and online platforms.
- Emphasis on sustainability and digital expansion positions H&M for potential top-line growth and strengthened brand loyalty with value-driven customers.
- Rising inventory and purchasing costs, weaker key market sales, and global trade challenges may pressure H&M's margins and hinder future growth.
Catalysts
About H & M Hennes & Mauritz- Provides clothing, accessories, footwear, cosmetics, home textiles, and homeware for women, men, and children worldwide.
- H&M's strategic focus on organic growth through an elevated pricing strategy, improved shopping experiences, and strengthening of brand positioning, particularly in womenswear and online platforms, indicates potential future increases in revenue.
- The company's plan to optimize its store portfolio by net closing stores and upgrading a significant share of the store portfolio with improved layouts and tech functionalities in 2025 suggests potential enhancement in net margins through cost savings and increased sales per store.
- With a significant emphasis on sustainability and usage of recycled materials, H&M forecasts a stronger brand loyalty and potentially improved net margins due to sustainably produced, higher-margin product lines.
- Efforts to mitigate external cost pressures, such as negative currency impacts and shipping costs, along with strategic supplier collaborations, are expected to positively affect gross margins and operating profit in the latter half of the year.
- H&M’s expansion and performance of digital platforms and secondhand sales through Sellpy indicate potential top-line growth, driven by increased online presence and capturing value-driven, sustainability-conscious customers, which could boost overall earnings.
H & M Hennes & Mauritz Future Earnings and Revenue Growth
Assumptions
How have these above catalysts been quantified?- Analysts are assuming H & M Hennes & Mauritz's revenue will grow by 2.7% annually over the next 3 years.
- Analysts assume that profit margins will increase from 4.6% today to 5.9% in 3 years time.
- Analysts expect earnings to reach SEK 15.1 billion (and earnings per share of SEK 9.48) by about April 2028, up from SEK 11.0 billion today. However, there is a considerable amount of disagreement amongst the analysts with the most bullish expecting SEK17.9 billion in earnings, and the most bearish expecting SEK13.1 billion.
- In order for the above numbers to justify the analysts price target, the company would need to trade at a PE ratio of 18.3x on those 2028 earnings, down from 20.9x today. This future PE is lower than the current PE for the GB Specialty Retail industry at 20.3x.
- Analysts expect the number of shares outstanding to decline by 0.38% per year for the next 3 years.
- To value all of this in today's terms, we will use a discount rate of 6.73%, as per the Simply Wall St company report.
H & M Hennes & Mauritz Future Earnings Per Share Growth
Risks
What could happen that would invalidate this narrative?- The increase in inventory levels and purchasing costs, alongside extended transport lead times, could negatively impact net margins and working capital efficiency.
- The weaker sales performance in key markets like Northern Europe and the U.S., compounded by geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainties, poses a risk to overall revenue growth.
- Continued net closure of physical stores, despite the focus on digital channels and store upgrades, might limit future top-line performance if not carefully managed.
- The gross profit development and margin were affected by negative external factors, increased markdowns, and investments into customer offerings, which could pressure earnings if such trends continue.
- The company is vulnerable to changing tariffs and global trade dynamics, especially in the U.S. market, which could impact the cost structure and potentially necessitate price adjustments that affect net profit margins.
Valuation
How have all the factors above been brought together to estimate a fair value?- The analysts have a consensus price target of SEK143.227 for H & M Hennes & Mauritz based on their expectations of its future earnings growth, profit margins and other risk factors. However, there is a degree of disagreement amongst analysts, with the most bullish reporting a price target of SEK190.0, and the most bearish reporting a price target of just SEK110.0.
- In order for you to agree with the analyst's consensus, you'd need to believe that by 2028, revenues will be SEK255.4 billion, earnings will come to SEK15.1 billion, and it would be trading on a PE ratio of 18.3x, assuming you use a discount rate of 6.7%.
- Given the current share price of SEK143.0, the analyst price target of SEK143.23 is 0.2% higher. The relatively low difference between the current share price and the analyst consensus price target indicates that they believe on average, the company is fairly priced.
- We always encourage you to reach your own conclusions though. So sense check these analyst numbers against your own assumptions and expectations based on your understanding of the business and what you believe is probable.
How well do narratives help inform your perspective?
Disclaimer
Warren A.I. is a tool utilizing a Large Language Model (LLM) that ingests data on consensus price targets, forecasted revenue and earnings figures, as well as the transcripts of earnings calls to produce qualitative analysis. The narratives produced by Warren A.I. are general in nature and are based solely on analyst data and publicly-available material published by the respective companies. These scenarios are not indicative of the company's future performance and are exploratory in nature. Simply Wall St has no position in the company(s) mentioned. Simply Wall St may provide the securities issuer or related entities with website advertising services for a fee, on an arm's length basis. These relationships have no impact on the way we conduct our business, the content we host, or how our content is served to users. The price targets and estimates used are consensus data, and do not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and they do not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Note that Warren A.I.'s analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.