Wedbush ‘encouraged’ by Celsius sales data despite slowing

Wedbush notes that data from Nielsen for the most recent four-week period ended November 4 shows Celsius (CELH) sales growth slowed to 136.7% from 171.4% in the prior month as the company begins to cycle Pepsi (PEP) distribution gains. However, the analyst was “encouraged by the read” as this still marked notable outperformance relative to category sales growth and from a volume perspective underlying two year growth for Celsius accelerated by over 11 points for the month. The firm, which also views this month’s read as a positive for Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP), which it says “again gained share of the category and outperformed peers,” has Outperform ratings on both Celsius and Keurig.