TROW
New quarter, slightly better vibes
T. Rowe Price came out of Q1 looking a little sturdier than the Street expected. Earnings landed at $2.52 a share, ahead of the $2.35 consensus, while revenue came in at $1.857 billion — basically a whisper below forecasts, which is about as close as you can get without the tape measure coming out.
The analyst treadmill keeps rolling
That kind of report tends to trigger the classic post-earnings ritual: analysts tweak their models, bump a target here, shave a concern there, and try to sound decisive about something that was mostly already in the price.
Here’s the quick hit list from the note parade:
- Keefe, Bruyette & Woods kept a Market Perform rating and raised its target from $95 to $107
- Evercore ISI kept an In-Line view and lifted its target from $96 to $104
- Barclays stayed Underweight but still nudged its target from $87 to $89
- TD Cowen held Hold and moved its target from $93 to $94
Why investors should care
The stock popped just 0.6% to $103.50, so this wasn’t some grand “new era” moment. But it does show the market is willing to give T. Rowe a little credit for outperforming EPS expectations, even if the revenue miss says the growth story still has some Pilates-balance issues.
Big picture: this is less “all clear” and more “okay, you get a better grade, but the teacher’s still watching.”