When Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY) announced its positive first-quarter results before Wednesday’s open, BBBY stock shot up 8%. Since then, this meme stock has given up about half of that gain and is trading slightly lower Thursday. But our bull thesis for this stock remains intact.

First off, we believe there’s more driving this company than social momentum. Bed, Bath & Beyond’s first-quarter earnings results support our thesis.

Here’s why we believe BBBY is more than just a meme stock and can actually deliver massive long-term gains:

Why We Like BBBY Stock

Bed Bath & Beyond used to be a struggling brick-and-mortar retail shop until a former Target (NYSE:TGT) executive, the brilliant Mark Tritton, took the reigns. Tritton basically swooped in and saved the company.

Among other things, Tritton worked to renovate physical stores, close unprofitable stores, invest in e-commerce and retooling its supply chain.

Bed Bath & Beyond, thanks to these changes, found itself perfectly capable of surviving the Covid-19 pandemic. Not only that, it thrived during the pandemic. How many companies can say that?

Through the pandemic, Bed Bath & Beyond boasted three consecutive quarters of positive comparable sales growth — the company can’t say the same was true before hiring Tritton, pandemic or not.

This omni-channel home goods store has completely transformed its trajectory, and we don’t see this growth stopping anytime soon.

And More Recently…

When you dig into Bed, Bath & Beyond’s Q1 earnings figures, it’s pretty solid. Comparable sales grew 86%, adjusted gross margins were 34.9% and adjusted EBITDA jumped to $86 million. All these numbers came in above guidance.

Bed Bath & Beyond also already launched three Owned Brands, which brings it ahead of schedule in its goal of launching eight by the end of 2021. And there are already potential plans for an additional four on top of those eight scheduled to release in 2022.

These Owned Brands, if all goes according to Bed Bath & Beyond’s plan, could represent upward of $3.5 billion in sales by 2024.

Bottom Line on BBBY Stock

Bed Bath & Beyond is no longer the rundown retail chain it was in the not-too-distant past. It’s turnaround is turning out to be one for the ages, led by solid fundamentals and bolstered by social momentum.

If BBBY stock follows a similar path to the one Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) ventured down over the past few years, you’re looking at a 2024 price target around $65 at minimum. We believe a more likely scenario involves BBBY soaring to $85 in that same time frame.

Our bull thesis is that BBBY’s meme status doesn’t matter all that much in the grand scheme of things.

Its results continue to look promising quarter after quarter.

So, if you’re comfortable ignoring the hype surrounding this company and holding onto shares for a longer period of time, you won’t be disappointed.

— Luke Lango and the InvestorPlace Research Staff

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Source: Investor Place