A world leader in its field and an 18% rise in the share price already this year.
Sounds pretty good, right? According to multiple experts, it's still not too late to catch some of that sweet action from Brambles Limited (ASX: BXB).
Wilson Asset Management equity analyst Anna Milne said that the pallet provider is truly an international business.
"Brambles operates in approximately 60 countries with around 360 million pallets, crates and containers in operation."
She is bullish on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) stock after a recent visit to Europe.
"Recent channel checks on an investor trip in London suggest momentum in the business has continued, while opportunities for step-changes in efficiencies should drive growth over the medium term."
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Brambles is reaching a Sliding Doors moment
Milne recognised that in the past the company had struggled to generate positive cash flow. But it could be turning a corner.
"We believe Brambles is nearing an inflection point," she said in a memo to clients.
"Customer contracts are being repriced significantly higher, lumber pricing has retreated from record levels, customer slowdowns and destocking have been limited in nature and competitors are behaving rationally."
This change is the potential positive catalyst coming up despite already a steep rise in the share price this year.
"With sentiment towards the name still broadly negative, we don't expect the stock to reach its full potential until this free cash flow recovery story is confirmed through its reported earnings."
It's not just 2023 that the Brambles share price has been climbing. The stock is almost 30% higher than where it was 12 months ago.
IML portfolio manager Daniel Moore agrees with Milne, last week naming Brambles as one of the hot stocks that can thrive in a high inflation climate.
He said that it and other ASX 200 stocks that are going gangbusters have a couple of attributes in common.
"All those businesses are market leaders," said Moore.
"And they're all managing this inflationary environment very well, either exercising pricing power or managing their costs or winning market shares."
