Wedbush Still Loves Express After Visiting Headquarters; Reiterates Outperform

In a report published Friday, Wedbush analyst Morry Brown reiterated an Outperform rating and price target of $21 on

. Meetings with the management have raised confidence in the company's ongoing margin and sales recovery. "The executive team highlighted the well rounded composition of 1Q's beat (driven by strong SSS, positive gross margins and leveraging expenses) and was excited about current product as well as merchandising plans into early fall and BTS (including the Express One Eleven chain-wide launch and Karlie Kloss marketing campaign in July)," Brown reported. The analyst believes that the strategy continues to be relatively simple, with good inventory control, as well as lower promotional activity and improved merchandise to drive "higher full price sell through" and margin improvement. With potential upside expected for Express' 2Q EPS, while better consistency in results is expected to drive the stock up. According to the Wedbush report, "Inventory control sets the stage for margin improvement, but poor product is not going to sell at full price regardless of lower inventory. The company was constructive on merchandise execution, and was particularly excited about the opportunity within the denim category." Express lagged its peers in joining the eCommerce race. However, the company is now investing in systems to help drive inventory productivity and enhance omnichannel capabilities.