What Happened?
Shares of denim clothing company Levi's (NYSE: LEVI) jumped 2.8% in the morning session after BTIG initiated coverage of the company with a 'Strong Buy' rating. The investment firm also set a price target of $27 on the stock, signaling confidence in its future performance. This positive assessment came amid a backdrop of favorable views from other analysts. For example, UBS had also recently maintained its 'Strong Buy' rating on Levi's and raised its price target to $32. The overall positive sentiment from financial analysts appeared to boost investor confidence in the company.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $21.37, up 3.8% from previous close.
Is now the time to buy Levi's? Access our full analysis report here.
What Is The Market Telling Us
Levi’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 6 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 11 days ago when the stock dropped 12% on the news that the company's full-year profit forecast, while raised, came in just shy of Wall Street's expectations, overshadowing an otherwise strong quarterly report. The denim maker reported third-quarter revenue of $1.54 billion and adjusted earnings of $0.34 per share, beating analysts' estimates on both fronts as sales grew 7% year over year. However, investor focus shifted to the company's outlook. Although Levi's raised its adjusted earnings per share guidance, the new midpoint of $1.30 fell just below the consensus estimate. The market's negative reaction indicated that the solid quarterly performance was not enough to outweigh concerns that future profitability would not meet Wall Street's higher expectations.
Levi's is up 22.6% since the beginning of the year, but at $21.37 per share, it is still trading 13.4% below its 52-week high of $24.66 from October 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Levi’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,312.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, it should be obvious by now that generative AI is going to have a huge impact on how large corporations do business. While Nvidia and AMD are trading close to all-time highs, we prefer a lesser-known (but still profitable) semiconductor stock benefiting from the rise of AI. Click here to access our free report on our favorite semiconductor growth story.
