UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Reiterates Overweight on The Fresh Market on Earnings Beat

In a report published on Wednesday, Piper Jaffray analyst Sean Naughton reiterated an Overweight rating on The Fresh Market TFM and maintained a price target of $47.

In the report, Piper Jaffray noted, "This morning, TFM reported FQ1 EPS of $0.46, beating our estimate and consensus of $0.44 driven by a better than expected gross margin performance. Additionally, comps accelerated 110bps sequentially and came in 110bps above consensus at 3.0%, but the contribution from new stores was below expectations as it missed consensus revenue estimates by $4.4M. We are encouraged by the improved comp results in the quarter, particularly traffic, and believe it is further proof that the concept is not broken. Although, despite the $0.02 earnings beat and raised comp guidance by 50bps, management did not raise earnings guidance. We would be buyers of shares this morning given recent commentary around improvements in specialty grocery stores."

The Fresh Market closed Tuesday at $46.36.