Stifel analyst Mark Astrachan said he still anticipates Monster Beverage will increase prices on its U.S. legacy business, which represents about two-thirds of sales, by about 4% in the fourth quarter of 2018 and raise prices on its brands acquired from Coca-Cola (KO) in the first quarter of 2019 despite industry talks that indicate Red Bull does not currently plan to follow Monster's lead. While noting that he does not view Red Bull's reported lack of current pricing intent as definitive, Astrachan said that should it not follow that he anticipates no material impact to Monster's volume or share trends based on his analysis of the last price increase by both companies in 2015. He maintains a Buy rating and $66 price target on Monster shares.

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Truist downgraded Monster Beverage to Sell from Buy with a price target of $46, down from $65.

JPMorgan analyst Andrea Teixeira downgraded Monster Beverage to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $59, down from $66, ahead of the company's Q1 earnings report on May 8. While the shares have already sold off, there are limited catalysts to the upside at this point as "long-hoped for potential price increases somehow lost their attractiveness" due to the latest run up in aluminum prices and an already-stretched lower income consumer, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Moreover, the firm says Monster's tracked and untracked channel trends are still challenged and it appears that household penetration and buy rates are pressured.

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