Analysts react to Dixons Carphone’s Christmas trading update
Electronics retailer Dixons Carphone has reported its fifth year of Christmas sales growth, but market reaction was muted, with the company's share price falling more than three per cent in morning trading.
Alistair Davies, analyst at Investec, said it was likely that Dixons Carphone had increased market share and improved its margins.
There were availability issues around the launches of the most popular phones of the year, such as the iPhone 7 Plus. This meant mobile sales were flat, but Davies said this was "a one-off factor". He gave the company a "buy" rating, with a target price of 405p. The shares are currently trading around 325p.
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However, Dixons Carphone is up against the likes of mighty Amazon in the electronics market, and there are fears that the devaluation of the pound will hit this sector particularly hard.
George Salmon, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said:
Chief executive Seb James highlights that planning for the Christmas sales events starts in January, and with next year likely to be more challenging than this, the group may need all the time it can get.
While it enjoys a key advantage in being the last remaining retailer of any scale that customers can visit to buy those must-have electronics, sterling’s weakness makes it increasingly difficult to sell its imported items at knock-down prices and stay competitive with the likes of Amazon.