Lovisa Holdings Ltd (ASX: LOV) has been a strong outperformer over the past 12 months.
The Lovisa share price is up 101% since this time last year, closing yesterday at $20.80 per share.
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October's executive shakeup failed to derail the Lovisa share price
Even the announcement that its veteran CEO, Shane Fallscheer, was stepping down following 12 years at the helm of the ASX fashion retailer wasn't enough to stop the share from marching higher.
Lovisa made that announcement after market close on 12 October, when it also reported that experienced retail executive Victor Herrero would be taking Fallscheer's place.
The Lovisa share price is up 10% since then.
With the strong run higher already banked as Australia moves to fully reopen for business following lengthy COVID lockdowns, is Lovisa still a leading reopening buy?
Is the ASX fashion retailer still a top reopening buy?
For the answer to that question, we turn to 2 leading experts – Ausbil Investment Management's Arden Jennings and Wilson Asset Management's Tobias Yao.
The fund managers discussed the ASX shares they believe will outperform with LiveWire.
Here are some key takeaways they had to say about their outlook for the Lovisa share price along with the company's new CEO.
"Lovisa is a buy for us," Yao said. "We've always really liked the store economics of the business and the vertical integration makes it one of the most nimble brick and mortar retailers."
Yao added:
It is exposed to the reopening theme with more people going out and attending events and parties. We like the new CEO. If you look at his long-term incentive structure, some of the hurdles that they have for him is going to show very strong growth over the coming years.
Despite the Lovisa share price rocketing over the past year, Jennings also has a bullish outlook for the company.
"It's a buy for us too," he said. "It's a high conviction position in both the Ausbil Australian Small Cap Fund and MicroCap Fund."
According to Jennings:
Lovisa has over 550 stores operating in 21 markets globally. But the new CEO, Victor, comes with a formidable track record… And Lovisa is really the fast fashion for jewellery and expanding globally. So where their current store footprint is at the moment, and where some of those global businesses have gone to thousands of stores, we think the market's probably pricing in between 1,000 and 1,500 stores. We think personally, they can go well beyond that with their global rollout strategy. So, it's a buy.
There you have it.
The Lovisa share price may have doubled over the past year, and indeed gained 417% since the 20 March 2020 pandemic selloff lows, but these 2 experts still see it as a buy.
