UPDATE: Morgan Stanley Resumes Coverage on VF Corp. with Equal-Weight Rating on Long-Term Holding, Limited Upside

In a report published Thursday, Morgan Stanley analyst Kimberly C. Greenberger resumed coverage on VF Corp. VFC with an Equal-Weight rating. In the report, Greenberger noted, “VFC is a way to play both the secular trend of outdoors/active lifestyles as well as higher disposable income in emerging markets. We identify a $2.6B global sales opportunity if VFC were able to bring up its market share to its average in the top apparel markets. If the company could reach 3.1% share internationally as it has in the US, the company could increase sales by $14B, or almost double in size. Ability to make tuck-in acquisitions and expand the brand internationally is a core competency that should be rewarded. We estimate that Timberland will be accretive to VFC, but still needs some time to clean up distribution. Elevated risk from weather sensitive products (TNF, TBL) and high exposure to lower-to-middle income market (Lee, Wrangler, Rider).” VF Corp. closed on Wednesday at $175.39.