Bernstein Not Confident In Accuracy Of Hain's Description Of Accounting Issues, Suspends Coverage


Crypto Whales Are Loading Up — Are You?

New research shows the biggest crypto buyers are back. And this time? They could hold for the possibility that Bitcoin will surpass $100,000 in 2024. You don’t want to miss the next massive crypto bull run like we saw in 2020 and 2021. To know exactly what’s going on and what to buy… Get Access To Benzinga’s Best Crypto Research and Investments For Only $1.


Bernstein’s Alexia Howard believes that the market currently assigns very limited potential for M&A for Hain Celestial Group Inc (NASDAQ: HAIN), with only a 5 percent probability.

Howard suspended coverage of the company, since it was at present unclear whether Hain Celestial’s description of its accounting issues was accurate.

ENTER TO WIN $500 IN STOCK OR CRYPTO

Enter your email and you'll also get Benzinga's ultimate morning update AND a free $30 gift card and more!

Possible Scenarios

“While we can (and do) evaluate bearish scenarios related to revenues from US distributors, we cannot at present rely on the press release's statement that this is the full scope of the accounting issues while the internal investigation is ongoing,” the analyst explained.

With this in mind, Howard considered four scenarios for the company.

  1. The accounting issue is completely timing-related and while Hain Celestial might miss its guidance for 2016, the MSD revenue would continue to grow going forward.
  2. “The accounting issue is purely timing-related, but the company is either broken up or sold outright.”
  3. The accounting issue is a major one and historical revenues would need to be rebased or inventories would need a meaningful write-down, with the company missing its guidance for 2016 and revenues growing in the low to mid single digits going forward.
  4. The accounting issue is a major one and Hain Celestial is broken up or “bought as is.”

“Our analysis suggests that a probability weighted value of Hain using the above methodology would be ~$46/share,” Howard stated, while noting that the share price was currently at $37 per share.

M&A Unlikely

With the market assigning only a 5 percent probability to the scenarios suggesting M&A, the analyst believes that there is a 70 percent probability that the accounting issue is a major one, which would mean that the risk-reward is “asymmetric to the upside.”

Do you have ideas for articles/interviews you'd like to see more of on Benzinga? Please email feedback@benzinga.com with your best article ideas. One person will be randomly selected to win a $20 Amazon gift card!


Crypto Whales Are Loading Up — Are You?

New research shows the biggest crypto buyers are back. And this time? They could hold for the possibility that Bitcoin will surpass $100,000 in 2024. You don’t want to miss the next massive crypto bull run like we saw in 2020 and 2021. To know exactly what’s going on and what to buy… Get Access To Benzinga’s Best Crypto Research and Investments For Only $1.


Posted In: Analyst ColorAnalyst RatingsAlexia HowardBerstein