Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Calls of Note Part 2

- Piper Jaffray is positive on Tempur-Pedic (NYSE:TPX) saying that based on their recent
retail channel checks, they believe that business trends in the mattress/ bedding sector have improved following the mid-term election. Firm believes the hotly contested mid-term elections impacted the mattress/bedding sector in two ways: consumer confidence and the availability of advertising space. As we have passed the elections and advertising space has become more
available, they believe that traffic trends and sell-through has recovered, albeit in a seasonally slow period for the industry. The firm is raising their 4Q domestic sales estimate from $162 million to $167 million, which is predicated on 23% domestic mattress unit volume growth and 3% average unit selling price growth. They believe the improving sales environment, coupled with strong acceptance of the company's RhapsodyBed and continued distribution expansion with high-volume retail accounts is positively impacting sales trends.

Piper is forecasting FY06 sales of $946 million, which is slightly above the low end of the company's guidance. They remain confident in their 4Q operating EPS estimate of $0.39 and FY06 estimate of $1.31 which is at the high end of management guidance.

Tgt goes to $20 from $19 with MP rating maintained.

Notablecalls: Must say I'm surprised to see ests raised on a furniture maker. This comes after TPX's main peer Select Comfort (NASDAQ:SCSS) took a bad stumble on Nov 30. I have no intention to call this one actionable. Good to know category.

1 comment:

SiamTwin said...

yes, I too had delayed that all-important mattress purchase until after the uncertainty of the election had passed.