Kors Shrs Pull Back Despite Analysts' Views

A raft of analysts gave a thumbs up to luxury retailer Michael Kors even as shares pulled back sharply Thursday. The company boosted guidance and announced another blow-out quarter a day earlier, posting fiscal fourth-quarter earnings up 63 percent on sales growth of nearly 54 percent At least four analysts urged investors to buy Kors Thursday. One exception, Avondale, downgraded the company to market perform and cut its target to $103, from $113. Also bucking the trend is BMO Capital Markets. "We have questions," analyst John D. Morris said, adding that gross margins were narrower than expected and two-year same-store sales growth slowed. More typical was Buckingham Research Group: "We encourage our investors to add positions" in Kors, analyst David Glick said in a note. "Concerns about gross margin and retail operating margin are overblown, Glick said. According to Baird Research's "proprietary handbag survey," 24 percent of woman plan to buy a Kors purse, compared with 27 percent who prefer Coach Inc.

. This in spite of Coach's significantly larger market share. "We're bullish," Baird analyst Mark R. Altschwager said in a note. In a similar vein, Deutsche Bank boosted price targets to $110, from $105; Canaccord Genuity raised its target to $123, "The key risk remains if the global macro environment deteriorates further, or if management under delivers," Deutsche analyst David Weiner said in a note. Kors was up recently more than 5 percent at $91.82 a share.