What Happened?

Shares of clothing and footwear retailer Boot Barn (NYSE: BOOT) jumped 4.3% in the afternoon session after Goldman Sachs initiated coverage on the company with a "Buy" rating and a $225 price target. The investment bank cited the retailer's "meaningful potential to outperform sales expectations." This outlook was driven by an expanded target for new locations, which could support 15% compounded annual store openings. The price target suggested a 13% potential upside from where the stock was trading. The initiation of coverage by the influential firm signaled a robust vote of confidence in Boot Barn's future performance.

After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $208.11, up 4.5% from previous close.

Is now the time to buy Boot Barn? Access our full analysis report here.

What Is The Market Telling Us

Boot Barn’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 previous big move we wrote about was 20 days ago when the stock gained 7.1% on the news that fellow apparel retailer Gap reported strong third-quarter sales and raised its full-year forecast, boosting investor sentiment across the retail sector. Gap announced that its net sales rose by 3% compared to the same period in the previous year, and its comparable sales grew by 5%. This positive performance from a major competitor suggested a healthy consumer spending environment, which likely increased investor confidence in other companies within the apparel market, such as Boot Barn.

Boot Barn is up 36.4% since the beginning of the year, and at $208.11 per share, has set a new 52-week high. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Boot Barn’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $5,200.

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