Goldman Sachs Raises Numbers On Monster Beverage (MNST) After Solid Q4 Results, Keeps Top Rating

Goldman Sachs boosted its price target on Conviction Buy List-rated Monster Beverage (NASDAQ: MNST) from $62 to $64 following solid Q4 results that missed their estimate by 2 cent on the bottom-line but had sales up 29%. Also, management said January sales were up 34%, which is better than the firm's view.

Monster Rehab is a solid top-line growth driver and management indicated Rehab is already nearly 1/5 the size of Monster Green at retail, less than a year into the launch and with essentially just one SKU. As a result, Goldman raised their Q1 US DSD sales growth forecast to 20%, up from 17%.

On G&A, Goldman sees another step-up to 21% in 2012 as the company expand into new markets including Japan, Korea and Taiwan in 1H12 and additional countries in 2H12. Despite this, EPS growth is expected to be 26% in 2012.

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Monster Beverage click here. For more ratings news on Monster Beverage click here.

Shares of Monster Beverage closed at $54.87 yesterday.

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