Why Bath and Body Works (BBWI) Stock Is Trading Up Today

What Happened?

Shares of personal care and home fragrance retailer Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) jumped 7.9% in the afternoon session after analysts at Barclays and TD Cowen raised their price targets on the stock, contributing to the positive move. 

Barclays increased its target to $20 from $18, maintaining an Equal Weight rating. The firm expressed a constructive view on the specialty retail sector, pointing to disciplined inventory management and broader economic tailwinds like lower interest rates and gas prices. Separately, TD Cowen also raised its price target on the shares to $24. The stock's rise was also supported by broader market trends. The consumer discretionary sector, which includes Bath & Body Works, saw increased buying interest as investors positioned themselves for sustained economic activity.

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What Is The Market Telling Us

Bath and Body Works’s shares are very volatile and have had 23 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was about 2 months ago when the stock dropped 22.9% on the news that the company reported disappointing third-quarter results and provided a weak full-year profit forecast. 

The personal care retailer's third-quarter revenue was flat year-on-year at $1.59 billion, missing analyst expectations of $1.63 billion. Its earnings of $0.37 per share also fell short of the consensus estimate of $0.39. Compounding the miss, Bath & Body Works issued full-year earnings per share guidance with a midpoint of $2.83, which was 16.1% below what analysts had been forecasting. The results pointed to ongoing demand headwinds, as the company's same-store sales have been declining over the last two years.

Bath and Body Works is up 5.8% since the beginning of the year, but at $21.94 per share, it is still trading 46.6% below its 52-week high of $41.08 from February 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Bath and Body Works’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $503.93.

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