Kate Spade A Top Pick At Barclays, Positioned To Outperform Given Strong E-Commerce Platform

Barclays issued a report on

on Wednesday saying that there are significant opportunities for growth across geographies, categories and channels. Barclays rates Kate Spade as Overweight with a $41 price target. Analysts Joan Payson and Bridgette Taylor wrote, "Elevating quality of sales, including reducing promotions and flash... will be a key factor in winning over the profitable international consumer by training them that Kate Spade is not a highly promotional or mass brand. Unaided brand awareness globally has doubled in the last 2-3 years, with more eyes now focused on the brand...Management is very confident in its ability to drive comps and productivity: Other factors supporting SSF gains going forward include the recent January launch of a new CRM system across online-brick and mortar; mobile POS strategy; leveraging its digital strategy to introduce home product in stores; regional tailoring/localization; and expanding categories." Kate Spade is using licensing opportunities to increase growth for their company. In February, the company announced a licensing agreement with

for the design and distribution of Kate Spade watches. Using Fossil's network will allow Kate Spade to expand its presence in international markets. Kate Spade also plans to expand into the home category by selling furniture, bedding and fabric, using its own stores as showrooms rather than inventory storage, especially for big ticket items.