UPDATE: Wedbush Reiterates On Big Lots As Sell-Off Is Overdone

In a report published Monday, Wedbush analyst Joan Storms reiterated an Outperform rating on Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE: BIG), but lowered the price target from $53.00 to $50.00.

In the report, Wedbush noted, “After a big run-up in the company's stock price prior to the Q3 report, news of a slightly weaker comp for Q3, and a below-plan Black Friday weekend have weighed heavily on the stock. We view the stock as oversold given that nothing has fundamentally changed. First, Q3 comps were trending 2%+ until the last two weeks of October, which saw weaker traffic, not only at BIG, but across retail, which has been well documented. Second, the weaker Black Friday weekend results were also observed across retail. For BIG, the biggest negative category was TVs, which they sold last year and are not selling this year. This actually helps margins. The 'want to own' categories of Food, Furniture and Home comped positively and November comps were still slightly positive. Post-Black Friday weekend, business bounced right back. We remain optimistic for the remainder of Q4 with December being the strongest month and good opportunities in January. We believe BIG is on the right track emphasizing consistency of its business with respect to comps, merchandising, and store execution.”

Big Lots closed on Friday at $40.00.