(new: share price and more statements from Jefferies study)

FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - After the previous day's ten percent slump, Puma shares continued their downward slide on Thursday. At their lowest level since 2018, the shares slipped another 3.3 percent. Several experts reacted with downgrades to the disappointment that had emerged the previous day after key data and statements on the outlook for the sporting goods manufacturer.

Jefferies, Oddo BHF and Societe Generale all gave up their positive assessments. Oddo put a question mark over the company's future operational maneuverability due to a high and inflexible cost base. Antoine Riou of Societe Generale mentioned that there are now too many uncertainties and a lack of short-term price drivers. James Grizinic of Jefferies also pointed to margin uncertainty and a lack of traction.

According to Grzinic, the fourth quarter would have been good in theory had it not been for the problem of the extreme devaluation of the Argentinian peso. More significant, however, is the outlook for 2024 with a disappointing margin outlook. In his opinion, the warning was more extreme than the market had feared. The expert capitulates despite an already weak share price performance recently, as he emphasized. In view of Puma's strong margins, he was also disappointed by the development of the product range.

Under these circumstances, investors were not mollified by the fact that there was also one encouraging voice. The private bank Hauck & Aufhäuser stood out among the analysts in the morning with a fresh buy recommendation. Christian Salis believes that all the bad news is now priced in, as Puma shares are the second worst MDax stock in 2024 with a discount of more than 26 percent.

Despite the ongoing economic uncertainty, Salis expects Puma to continue to record solid sales and earnings growth - driven by sustained market share gains and major sporting events coming up in the course of the year. He referred to the European Football Championships and the Olympic Games./tih/ajx/jha/