BofA upgrades RPM to Neutral on topline growth

BofA analyst Salvator Tiano upgraded RPM (RPM) to Neutral from Underperform with a price target of $128, up from $110, following a fiscal Q4 beat and “strong” sales and margin outlook. While the firm’s prior Underperform thesis was predicated on fears of a slowing macro and a pullback of industrial capital investment on the back of new government tariffs, this “did not present itself as an issue” for the quarter ended May 31, the analyst tells investors. The performance coatings business is benefitting from tailwinds from datacenter and distribution center buildouts and the firm expects these trends to accelerate as the year progresses, adding that RPM’s topline growth “justifies” a higher multiple.