It’s time to snap up shares of Swiss chocolate maker Barry Callebaut despite a slowdown in the global confectionery market, according to UBS. The Swiss investment bank has a buy rating on the stock and raised its 12-month price target to 2,500 Swiss francs ($2,692). This gives the stock 36.5% potential upside from its current share price of around 1847 Swiss francs. The Belgian-Swiss chocolate manufacturer, whose brands include Callebaut, Caprimo and American Almond, is one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of chocolate, cocoa, and confectionary products. According to UBS, it is best-positioned among its peers ahead of a recession thanks to the company’s expansion in emerging markets and its gains in the gourmet chocolate sector. Double-digit price rises due to inflation have led total chocolate volumes to decline by about 3.2% over the last quarter in the U.S. and by 3.4% in Europe this year, the bank estimated. Despite the decline in developed markets, UBS analysts Joern Iffert and Barbora Blaha said in a note to clients on Dec. 14 that total worldwide sales at Barry Callebaut will rise by a “healthy” 5% in 2023 due to a string of recent investments it’s made. The company last week announced a $100 million expansion of its Canadian factory. It came only a week after the multinational announced the opening of a third factory in India by 2024. “We also see Barry’s latest production site investment in the fast-growing region of India and Canada as a reassuring signal for future volume growth granularity,” the analysts said. The company was the first to create pink-hued chocolate called “Ruby” in 2017 – the fourth type ever to be created and comes 80 years after the launch of white chocolate. UBS is not the only investment bank expecting this stock to rise. The median price target of 7 analysts, not including UBS, gives the stock a 23.4% upside from its current share price. Barry Callebaut is accessible to U.S. investors through its ADR ticker BRRLY. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed reporting
