Goldman Sachs Sees Multi-Year Growth Story At Keurig Green Mountain Inc

Judy Hong of Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of Keurig Green Mountain Inc (NASDAQ: GMCR) on Tuesday with a Buy rating and $166 price target.

“We believe Keurig Green Mountain is at the cusp of pivoting to a multi-layered, product cycle-driven growth story from a disruptive innovation story focused on single-serve coffee,” Hong wrote in the initiation note. The analyst said that Keurig Green Mountain will see sales and earnings per share acceleration in the coming years from the company's Hot and Cold platforms.

Hong forecasts sales will grow at a compounded annual rate of 29.6 percent, while earnings per share will grow at a 23.2 percent compounded rate through fiscal 2017. The analyst notes that the company will see its single-serve coffee platform more than doubling its household penetration to 50 percent from a current 23 percent by 2020. In addition, the company's upcoming Cold platform will address a market that is four to five times larger than the Hot platform.

2015 will be an “investment year” with new products including the Cold platform entering the market, according to Hong. The analyst adds that Keurig Green Mountain will see its margins stabilize in fiscal 2016 and 2017.