JPMorgan analyst Andrea Teixeira upgraded Estee Lauder to Overweight from Neutral and raised her price target for the shares to $175 from $160. The analyst left the company's analyst day more confident that both its fiscal 2019 and long term sales growth algorithm and earnings goals are "not only achievable but actually conservative." Estee is seeing continued strength in China despite difficult compares and has "ample runway" for further expansion ahead in Emerging Markets and travel, Teixeira tells investors in a research note. Further, innovation for Clinique should sustain double digits skincare growth in the developed markets and mitigate low-single-digit growth in makeup, adds the analyst. She believes concerns over Estee Lauder's growth deceleration are overdone.

Deutsche Bank placed a "Catalyst Call: Buy" on Estee Lauder as a short-term investment idea. The analyst views the setup into Estee's fiscal Q3 results on May 1 "skewing positively." The firm sees the company as likely to report "in-line-to-better" results versus Street estimates, including confirmation that long-standing China travel retail inventory backlogs have been cleared, while reiterating fiscal 2024 guidance.