J.P Morgan Comments On First Cash Financial After Raising Guidance; Raises Estimates, PT

First Cash Financial's FCFS EPS range was increased from $2.02-10 to $2.12-20. The implicit increase is higher as it included $0.05 cents from the sold Illinois payday business. Q1 guidance of $0.47- $0.49 was also introduced. The CEO said “Our quarter-to-date results have significantly exceeded expectations, as we continue to see strength across all markets and products.”

The company acquired six full- service pawn shops in Indiana and Missouri for $4m and expects them to be immediately accretive. Given the strong cash flow, payday sale proceeds, and zero-debt balance sheet, the company announced a resumption of its buyback plan, with up to 1.36m share buyback approved, equal to 4% of outstanding shares, or $45m.

J.P Morgan reiterates its Overweight rating and raises the PT from $36 to $41

FCFS closed Monday at $32.90