The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, June 24, edition that National Bank Financial analyst Vishal Shreedhar continues to rank Empire "outperform." The Globe's David Leeder writes that Mr. Shreedhar gave his share target a $6 haircut to $42. Analysts on average target the Class A shares at $47.44. The Globe says Mr. Shreedhar is taking an "unfavourable" view of Empire's fourth quarter 2022 financial results. Mr. Shreedhar, however, says he likes Empire's "attractive" valuation. He says in a note: "Empire's negative sssg was largely due to tough year-over-year comparisons and a shift to discount (also indicated by Loblaw/Metro). The market is concerned about market share losses given that L/MRU reported sssg of 2.1 per cent/0.8 per cent. Empire is the least penetrated in the discount format (approximately 14 per cent by store count vs. L/MRU more than 40 per cent). For the outlook, Empire expects positive sssg in F2023 (aided by Scene+), which if realized, should alleviate investor concerns. Project Horizon targets for F2023 remain on track, with benefits extending into F2024+." Mr. Shreedhar cut his full-year earnings per share projections for 2023 and 2024 to $2.81 and $3.18 from $2.88 and $3.24.