Brean Capital maintains a Buy rating and $21.00 price target on Express Inc. (NYSE: EXPR) leading up to the Q1 earnings report. Analyst Liz Pierce estimates non-GAAP Q1 earnings of $0.11, below the consensus estimate of $0.13. Sales estimates of $485 million are up 5% over last year. EXPR is scheduled to release Q1 earnings results tomorrow, before the market opens.

Pierce commented on EXPR, saying, "We believe EXPR made good on its pledge to keep the focus on fashion and less on the deal as not only did we see less store-wide promotions during the quarter but also clearance merchandise was usually relegated to the back of the store, keeping the emphasis on new, full price product. We further believe that recent product initiatives such as One Eleven (elevated basics at great value) combined with moving to more of a chase should have a favorable impact on merchandise margins. Thus, although the competitive environment is likely to remain intense in the near term, we continue to believe that EXPR has a distinctive niche in the specialty retail sector and that its curated and well-edited merchandise offering, combined with its flexible supply chain, positions it to get back to historical operating margin. Accordingly, we reiterate our Buy rating and a $21 target price; our TP is based on a multiple of 16.5x our FY16 EPS of $1.27 and PEG ratio of 0.7x."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Express Inc. click here. For more ratings news on Express Inc. click here.

Shares of Express Inc. closed at $16.56 yesterday.