Vitamin/Supplement Investors Need to Brace for New Documentary (VSI) (GNC) (WFM) (NGVC) (TFM)
Get Alerts VSI Hot Sheet
Rating Summary:
2 Buy, 15 Hold, 2 Sell
Rating Trend: = Flat
Today's Overall Ratings:
Up: 11 | Down: 13 | New: 18
Join SI Premium – FREE
Piper Jaffray analyst Sean Naughton is warning investors in the Supplements/Vitamin sector to brace for volatility ahead of a new documentary highlighting the supplements industry.
The new documentary "Supplements and Safety" which is set to air on January 19th on PBS likely brings additional negative media attention to the category, he warned.
According to the PBS website the new documentary "investigates the hidden dangers of vitamins and supplements...and how it's often hard to know what's really in the bottles you buy."
"We believe this negative media attention could be a further headache for vitamin/supplement (VMS) sales as our survey work has shown roughly 33% of VMS buyers are influenced by negative media reports," Naughton said.
At the top of the list is The Vitamin Shoppe (NYSE: VSI) with the vast majority of its sales in the vitamin and supplement category, the analyst warns.
Additionally, the specialty grocers are also a big seller of vitamin/supplement products. VMS represents approximately 23% of Natural Grocers' (NYSE: NGVC) sales (31% of SKUs) and 27% of Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ: SFM) SKUs on shelf. They estimate Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFM) has a lower exposure, but is likely a double digit percentage of sales.
GNC Holdings (NYSE: GNC) was not mentioned in the report but it too could see volatility.
Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!
You May Also Be Interested In
- PowerSchool Holdings, Inc. (PWSC) Mentioned Cautiously at Spruce Point
- Pfizer (PFE) drops to 11-year lows
- Morgan Stanley Upgrades Macquarie Group Ltd. (MQG:AU) (MQBKY) to Overweight
Create E-mail Alert Related Categories
Analyst Comments, Hot Comments, Rumors, Short Sales, Trader TalkRelated Entities
Piper JaffraySign up for StreetInsider Free!
Receive full access to all new and archived articles, unlimited portfolio tracking, e-mail alerts, custom newswires and RSS feeds - and more!