JPMorgan analyst Jeffrey Zekauskas downgraded Avery Dennison to Neutral from Overweight with an unchanged price target of $105. With the stock above his price target, the analyst thinks "there is room for some price degradation from these levels." Avery shares have increased nearly 23% year-to-date without any improvement in underlying business fundamentals, Zekauskas tells investors in a research note. He believes it will be difficult for Avery to expand its trading multiples from this point.

Reports Q1 revenue $2.2B, consensus $2.15B. "We are off to a strong start to the year. In the first quarter we delivered significant earnings growth, driven by higher volume and productivity gains," said Deon Stander, president and CEO. "Materials Group delivered significant volume growth and margin expansion, as downstream inventory destocking subsided and volumes continued to normalize. Solutions Group delivered strong top-line growth, driven by high-value categories, despite apparel imports continuing to be below demand. In Intelligent Labels, we are targeting to deliver another year of significant growth in 2024, as the apparel industry normalizes and we accelerate the adoption of our solutions that help address key industry challenges, further advancing our leadership position at the intersection of the physical and digital," added Stander. We continue to expect strong earnings growth in 2024 and remain confident that the consistent execution of our strategies will enable us to meet our long-term goals for superior value creation through a balance of profitable growth and capital discipline. Once again, I want to thank our entire team for their continued resilience, focus on excellence and commitment to addressing the unique challenges at hand."