Elf Beauty price target lowered to $100 from $150 at Truist

Truist analyst Bill Chappell lowered the firm’s price target on Elf Beauty (ELF) to $100 from $150 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The company’s guide-down for Q4 despite the Q3 beat was “clearly a shock” while the management indicated this was due to a combination of the slowdown of the category, the lower social media conversations for beauty, and weak starts from some of its new innovations, the analyst tells investors in a research note. It is prudent for the company to be conservative after the abnormally weak January as scanner data went from positive 12% in Q3 to negative in January, according to the management, but while these issues look transitory, investors will stay away from the name until at least seeing full February scanner data 3-4 weeks from now, the firm added.