It was an exceptionally strong day for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) and many ASX 200 shares on Thursday. By the time the markets closed, the ASX 200 had added a confident 1.16% to its total, bringing the index up to 7,918.9 points. But let's talk about what happened with JB Hi-Fi Ltd (ASX: JBH) shares.
JB Hi-Fi shares performed even better than the broader market yesterday. The ASX 200 consumer discretionary stock and electronics and appliance retailer closed at $88.72 a share on Wednesday evening. By yesterday morning, those same shares opened at $89.34 before rising as high as $91.73 this afternoon.
The company closed at $91.50 a share yesterday afternoon, up a healthy 3.13% for the day.
So why did JB Hi-Fi shares so handily outperform the broader market this Thursday?
Why did JB Hi-Fi shares gallop higher today?
Well, it's hard to know for sure, as there have been no fresh news or announcements from JB Hi-Fi this week or, indeed, this month so far.
However, there is one development that might be spurring investors to pick up more JB Hi-Fi shares.
As reported by the Australian Financial Review (AFR) this week, JB Hi-Fi has been the beneficiary of some love from an ASX broker.
Yesterday, it emerged that JPMorgan had upgraded the company, moving it from 'neutral' weight to 'overweight' – another term for 'buy'.
JPMorgan analyst Bryan Raymond was reported as stating that the company's re-rating partly stemmed from the recent earnings results, which, at least according to him, "created an opportunity".
Raymond also noted that the company's nature essentially exempts it from any hit to global growth from the new tariffs that the Trump administration is pursuing.
Instead, Raymond argues that the JB Hi-Fi share price is well-positioned to benefit from AI tailwinds, higher consumer spending thanks to tax cuts and falling interest rates, and "further market share opportunity in the telco category."
When it comes to income, JPMorgan is also expecting big things. The broker has pencilled in $5 per share worth of dividends over the coming four years. That includes a prediction of a $2 per share special dividend in the second half of 2025.
Investors will no doubt be pleased to hear this bullish outlook. It seems to be responsible for the good fortune that JB shares have had this week. When this opinion became public on Wednesday, the company lifted a rosy 3.6%. Thursday's further gains put the JB Hi-Fi share price up more than 6.5% since Tuesday's market close.
