Coty shares close higher on Tuesday, third-quarter revenue shrinks 3.3% as COVID-19 restrictions across Europe pressure demand for cosmetics

Coty Inc’s (COTY) third-quarter revenue, reported earlier this week, dropped 3.3% year-on-year. The company’s cosmetic product sales were adversely affected by coronavirus-related restrictions in some parts of Europe, including the United Kingdom and France.

Coty’s revenue from continuing operations on a reported basis shrank to $1.03 billion during the latest fiscal quarter, while matching a consensus of analyst estimates, from $1.06 billion a year earlier.

Coty shares closed higher for the fifth time in the past ten trading sessions in New York on Tuesday. The stock went up 2.33% ($0.21) to $9.21, after touching an intraday low at $8.60. The latter has been a price level not seen since April 21st ($8.60).

Shares of Coty Inc have risen 31.20% so far in 2021 compared with a 10.54% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2020, Coty Inc’s stock went down 37.60%, thus, it underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 16.26% gain.

The cosmetics maker reported an operating loss of $1.4 million during the fiscal third quarter, which compares with an operating loss of $299.5 million in the same period a year ago.

Meanwhile, net loss attributable to shareholders was reported at $18.5 million ($0.02 per share) during the fiscal quarter ended on March 31st, which compares with a loss of $271.6 million ($0.36 per share) in the year-ago period.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to CNN Money, at least 8 out of 14 surveyed investment analysts had rated Coty Inc’s stock as “Hold”, while 4 – as “Buy”. The median price target on the stock stands at $10.00.