Piper Jaffray Previews Mattress Firm's Q1 Results: Waiting On The Sidelines

Piper Jaffray's Peter Keith maintains Mattress Firm Holding Corp (NASDAQ: MFRM)'s Neutral rating with a $35.00 price target. The reiteration came a day before Mattress Firm was scheduled to report earnings.

"While MFRM has done an excellent job creating the first coast-to-coat retailer, sluggish industry trends combined with a large retail optimization effort ahead keep us on the sidelines for now," stated the analyst. Keith noted store occupancy pressure and lower margins related by Mattress Firm's e-commerce business.

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Additionally, Piper Jaffray's recent mattress survey results show a deceleration in mattress sales vs. April for the month of May. "As a result of what we expect is a slow start to the quarter, we are reducing our Q2 comp to 3 percent (from 4 percent) and EPS to $0.88 (from $0.91)," said the analyst.

At time of writing, Mattress Firm traded at $34.55, up 1.50 percent.