Office Suppliers Rally Ahead of Earnings
NEW YORK (
) -- Office supply retailers are surging ahead of
Office Depot's
(ODP) - Get Report
first-quarter earnings report tomorrow.
Office Depot was upgraded to neutral from underperform on Monday by Credit Suisse, saying the worst could be over at the company's retail stores. Analyst Gary Batler said recent store checks have shown some stability in merchandise and improved relationship with its suppliers.
Analysts are calling for first-quarter earnings at Office Depot of 8 cents a share on revenue of $3.14 billion.
J.P. Morgan analyst Christopher Horvers has an overweight rating on all of the office retailers. "While we don't expect a snap back in comparable sales as witnessed in March from the specialty retail and department store universe, we believe the top line should accelerate throughout the year," he wrote in a note.
Shares of Office Depot are spiking 6% to $8.96, while
OfficeMax
(OMX)
is gaining 6.1% to $17.64 in afternoon trading.
Staples
(SPLS)
is rising 1.1% to $24.90.
-- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York.
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