Elf Beauty was a standout stock during the pandemic and is only gaining momentum, according to Morgan Stanley. Analyst Dara Mohsenian reiterated an overweight rating on elf Beauty, and raised his price target, saying the cosmetics company is accelerating both near- and long-term growth. “We are reiterating our OW on ELF as our preferred SMID cap name, with increased confidence behind our call for large topline upside vs consensus, supported by accelerating Q1 US scanner data sales which confirms near-term upside and greater LT growth opportunity than the market expects,” Mohsenian wrote to clients in a Thursday note. ELF 1D mountain Elf Beauty shares 1-day Elf Beauty shares had a stellar run throughout the pandemic, being resilient and exhibiting double-digit percentage growth for the past four years. In 2023, it’s up more than 42%. In 2022, when the S & P 500 dropped by 19%, Elf Beauty shares netted a 66% gain. Mohsenian expects even further upside for the stock. His $94 price target, raised from $75, implies shares can jump another 19% from Thursday’s closing price. His call is driven in part by the latest U.S. scanner data showing an acceleration in sales, meaning elf Beauty is building on its post-pandemic growth, and trending above its historical levels as well, according to the note. “Robust growth is being driven by the beauty category sustaining its momentum on a post-COVID basis, but importantly, even more so ELF’s recent inflection in market share gains well above even strong historical levels, with ELF’s YoY share up 230 [basis points] QTD to 7.6%, well above a 95 bp increase in CY22 and 30 bps in CY21,” Mohsenian wrote. “Importantly, breadth of ELF share gains is also strong beyond impressive magnitude, with 100% of its weighted avg product categories gaining YoY share in calendar Q1 to date US scanner data,” Mohsenian added. —CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.