The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday, Jan. 27, edition that National Bank Financial analyst Vishal Shreedhar is maintaining his "sector perform" recommendation for Canadian Tire. The Globe's David Leeder writes in the Eye On Equities column that Mr. Shreedhar tweaked his share target ahead by $4 to $201. Analysts on average target the shares at $201. Mr. Shreedhar predicts strong gross margin growth in Canadian Tire's retail segment, driven by an extra week in the fourth quarter of 2025, which may boost earnings per share and introduce cheaper goods into the U.S. supply chain. Mr. Shreedhar is now projecting earnings per share for the quarter of $3.72, which is 15 cents lower than the consensus estimate on the Street but a large gain from $3.24 a year ago. He attributes that 15-per-cent year-over-year gain to "revenue growth (positive same-store sales growth across all banners and an extra week, partly offset by lower dealer replenishment), Retail gross margin (excluding petroleum) expansion, share repurchases and lower interest expense, partly offset by retail SG&A deleverage, lower financial EBT, higher D&A and a higher tax rate (12-cent drag to EPS)."