When Chewy Inc (NYSE:CHWY) reported its second-quarter results on Wednesday, at least one analyst noticed a trend in the online pet retailer’s earnings: fewer snacks.
"Treats and toppers remain soft as households prioritize core food, medications, and supplements," Citizens JMP Securities analyst Andrew Boone wrote.
Pet owners, it appears, are ordering essential products like food and medications, and pulling back on discretionary items for their dogs and cats.
Boone reaffirmed a Market Outperform rating and price target of $28. Other analysts largely maintained their ratings.
- Wedbush analyst Scott Devitt maintained a Neutral rating, while cutting the price target from $25 to $24.
- Needham analyst Bernie McTernan reiterated a Hold rating on the stock.
Check out other analyst stock ratings.
Citizens JMP Securities: Chewy reports revenue just 1% higher than consensus, representing 5.7% year-on-year organic growth, Boone said. While consumer pressure has stabilized, guidance does not reflect any recovery at the midpoint, he added.
Management raised their 2026 revenue guidance by $40 million at the midpoint, indicating that the macro environment has stabilized but remains challenging, Boone stated.
Wedbush: Chewy reported quarterly results that were broadly in-line with "already modest expectations," Devitt said in a note. Net sales grew 7.3% year-on-year to $3.33 billion, coming at the high end of its guidance, while adjusted EBITDA margin expanded by 90 basis points (bps) year-on-year but only around 45 bps excluding one-time items, he added.
Management raised their full-year net sales guidance to $13.46-$13.57 billion and projected adjusted EBITDA margin of 6.7%-6.8%, the analyst stated. "Chewy remains a high-quality operator, but we maintain our view that Vet Care, advertising, and other new growth opportunities are not yet validating at scale quickly enough to offset a structurally lower-growth core," he further wrote.
Needham: Investors remain focused on the macro environment, which Chewy indicated had stabilized and is unlikely to deteriorate further from the previous quarter, McTernan said. He added, however, that discretionary purchases were the key concern area, where management flagged a sharper slowdown in treat sales growth than core food.
Chewy believes it is continuing to gain share, along with Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN), the analyst stated. "The company also believes their mid-teens hard goods growth is also resulting in share gains benefitting from merchandising improvements," he further wrote.
CHWY Price Action: Shares of Chewy had risen by 1.18% to $21.00 at the time of publication on Thursday.
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