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PBHPrestige Consumer Healthcare InSell5.1·$49.42+2.62%
PBH · Why this verdict

Why Prestige Consumer Healthcare In (PBH) is rated SELL

Updated

Model-generated analysis — not investment advice. Not a registered investment advisor. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

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Methodology · Editorial policy & full disclaimer

VerdictSELL
Overall score5.1/10
ConfidenceMEDIUM
MacroNEUTRAL

Thesis pillars

At a forward P/E of 9.3x and analyst upside of 25% to roughly $58, Prestige Consumer Healthcare offers an attractive entry price relative to its 17% operating margin and 8/9 Piotroski F-Score, suggesting the market is overly penalizing the earnings miss streak.

Stable
Valuation breakdown
Expectation
Price rises above $55 within 12 months as the valuation discount is recognized once the earnings miss streak ends.

CounterFour consecutive earnings misses averaging negative 7% surprise, combined with declining revenue of 5% year over year, suggest estimates are still too high rather than the stock being undervalued.

Despite four consecutive earnings misses, Prestige Consumer Healthcare maintains strong operating margins at 17% with free cash flow at 71% of net income and a Piotroski F-Score of 8/9, indicating the business quality floor is intact.

Stable
Quality breakdown
Expectation
Operating margin stays above 14% for at least 3 of the next 4 quarters, confirming the margin floor holds despite revenue pressure.

CounterRevenue has declined 5% year over year and earnings estimates are trending downward; margin compression typically follows revenue decline in consumer healthcare as fixed overhead becomes a larger proportion of a shrinking sales base.

The four consecutive earnings misses averaging negative 7% have already reset expectations significantly lower; the risk of a positive EPS surprise grows as estimates converge toward the true earnings run rate.

Stable
Earnings
Expectation
Earnings beat consensus by more than 3% in at least 1 of the next 2 quarters, signaling the miss streak is ending.

CounterEstimates trending downward means the market is still adjusting expectations lower; a company that misses by 11.5% and then 11.3% in consecutive quarters may still not have reached bottom estimates.

Despite the confirmed death cross and downtrend, the MACD has improved to a score of 10 — the highest possible reading — suggesting a technical inflection may be forming even as price remains below key moving averages.

Stable
Momentum breakdown
Expectation
Price crosses above the 200-day moving average within 9 months and sustains above that level for at least 20 consecutive trading days.

CounterMACD improvement in a stock with four consecutive earnings misses and declining revenue is unreliable as a fundamental inflection signal; the price remains near 52-week lows at only 0.4% above the annual trough.

TrendMatrix Research · core thesis

Engine thesis — one sentence

Prestige Consumer Healthcare trades at a forward P/E of 9.3x with analyst upside of 25% and strong operating margins of 17%, but has missed earnings estimates in all 4 of the last 4 quarters with estimates trending downward — making the value case dependent on a fundamental turnaround that has not yet materialized.

Falsifiable statement — pillar-level invalidators below. Engine-derived; not personalized advice.

Per-dimension breakdown

Value

7.5/10data confidence 100%
ComponentSub-score
P/E8.5
P/S8.9
EV/EBITDA6.0
Fwd P/E9.3
PEG5.2
Analyst target7.5
  • Forward P/E: 9.7x
  • PEG: 1.46
  • Attractively valued

Quality

7.1/10data confidence 100%
ComponentSub-score
ROE3.4
ROA3.7
Gross margin7.1
Op margin10.0
Net margin8.7
Current ratio9.4
FCF quality7.1
Moat5.4
Piotroski F8.9
  • Strong margins: 17%
  • No competitive moat
  • Strong Piotroski F-Score: 8/9

Growth

2.9/10data confidence 67%
ComponentSub-score
Rev growth1.2
EPS growth4.5
  • Declining revenue: -5%

Momentum

4.2/10data confidence 100%
ComponentSub-score
RSI4.5
MACD10.0
OBV1.0
MA position4.0
Volume1.6
  • Volume distribution (falling OBV)
  • Below 200-MA, MA slope -4.6%/30d — confirmed downtrend

Sentiment

5.8/10data confidence 100%
ComponentSub-score
Analyst rating5.0
Price target8.9
erm sentiment3.1
  • Analyst upside: 35%

Insider

5.0/10data confidence 50%
ComponentSub-score
materiality5.0
holder change5.1
  • Insider selling (low materiality) — $120,444 (0.005% of mkt cap)

Peer rank

3.9/10data confidence 80%
ComponentSub-score
value rank6.5
quality rank6.9
growth rank2.1
  • Best-in-class margins

Technical

2.0/10data confidence 100%
ComponentSub-score
bollinger0.8
support resistance0.8
52w position1.3
gap5.0

Risk (lower is worse)

7.1/10data confidence 100%
ComponentSub-score
short interest6.3
days to cover6.7
volatility3.5
put call10.0
implied vol5.6
beta10.0
debt equity7.7

Catalyst

2.1/10data confidence 100%
ComponentSub-score
erm3.5
earnings history0.0
earnings timing5.0
surprise avg0.0
  • Earnings concerns: 0B/4M

How the verdict was assembled

Engine trigger

Multiple concerning factors. Consider reducing position.

Engine technical detail
verdict_path: L4:PATH_F_SELL
Passed (7)
  • ASYMMETRY:1.9>=1.5
  • INSIDER:OK
  • 8K:CLEAN
  • NEWS_EVENTS:NONE_RECENT
  • EARNINGS_PROXIMITY:34d clear
  • SEMI_CYCLE_PEAK:CLEAR
  • MATERIALS_CYCLE_PEAK:CLEAR
Failed (2)
  • MOMENTUM:4.2<4.5
  • DEATH_CROSS:HARD_BLOCK
Warning (0)

none

Reward-to-Risk
1.92
Upside
+17.6%
Downside
9.2%
Sizing output
AVOID

SetupRecovery Death cross but MACD improving, RSI 56

EdgeNo clear edge No clear edge identified

SuitabilitySpeculative Drawdown -43% (>40% off 52w high)

Investment implication

The F-path SELL output reflects an overall score of 5.1 below the 5.6 soft trigger — multiple weakening dimensions accumulated rather than a single hard-floor breach. The strongest dimension ( Value at 7.5) was not enough to lift the adjusted overall above the threshold. Co-occurring failed gates ( MOMENTUM:4.2<4.5, DEATH_CROSS:HARD_BLOCK) reinforce the read. Current asymmetry R:R is 1.92 — supplementary context, not the trigger for this path.

The strongest dimensions are Value at 7.5, Quality at 7.1, and Risk (lower is worse) at 7.1; the weakest are Technical at 2.0, Catalyst at 2.1, and Growth at 2.9. The V9 engine flagged 2 failed gates, producing an asymmetric reward-to-risk of 1.92 and an engine sizing output of AVOID.

What would invalidate the thesis

Falsifying conditions — when triggered, the corresponding pillar's thesis is invalidated.

  • P1Valuation Discount Vs Quality

    Trip ifAnalyst consensus price target falls below $45 for 2 consecutive months, eliminating the valuation discount thesis.

  • P2Margin Quality Floor Support

    Trip ifOperating margin falls below 12% for 2 consecutive quarters, breaking the margin quality floor.

  • P3Earnings Miss Streak Resolution

    Trip ifEarnings miss consensus by more than 5% for a 5th consecutive quarter, extending the miss streak further.

  • P4Macd Recovery Amid Downtrend

    Trip ifPrice drops below $40 and holds below that level for more than 10 trading days, invalidating the MACD recovery thesis.

Engine reasoning is mechanically derived from pipeline gate outputs. See decision view.

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