Should You Buy Brunswick Corp (BC) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.
Conclusion
Hold
Latest Price
84.170
1 Day change
-1.87%
52 Week Range
89.610
Analysis Updated At
2026/01/28
BC is **not a good buy right now** for a **beginner, long-term** investor who is **impatient** and wants to buy immediately. The stock’s medium-term trend looks constructive (bullish moving averages), but **near-term momentum is weakening** (negative, expanding MACD histogram) and there is a **major event catalyst tomorrow (earnings pre-market)** with **bearish-leaning options volume positioning**. Given the mixed setup and recent quarter profitability deterioration, the higher-probability choice today is **HOLD** (or wait until after earnings confirms direction) rather than buying immediately at ~$85.
**Intellectia Proprietary Trading Signals**
- [AI Stock Picker](module://ai_stock_pick): No signal on given stock today.
- [SwingMax](module://swingmax): No signal on given stock today.
Technical Analysis
Price: 85.27 (flat regular session; -0.40% pre-market).
Trend/Momentum:
- Moving averages: **Bullish stack (SMA_5 > SMA_20 > SMA_200)**, which supports a **positive medium-term trend**.
- MACD histogram: **-0.484 and negatively expanding**, signaling **weakening momentum / increasing downside pressure** in the near term.
- RSI(6): **48.7 (neutral)**, no clear oversold/overbought edge.
Key levels:
- Immediate support: **84.887 (S1)** then **83.601 (S2)**.
- Overhead pivot/resistance: **86.969 (pivot)** then **89.051 (R1)**.
Read-through: BC is in a broader uptrend by moving averages, but currently looks like a **stall/consolidation** with risk of testing support if sellers press it below ~84.9. Pattern odds provided also lean slightly negative over the next week (-2.35%) before improving over a month (+2.1%).
Options Data
Bullish
Open Interest Put-Call Ratio
Bearish
Option Volume Put-Call Ratio
Sentiment takeaways (2025-11-19 snapshot):
- **Open Interest P/C = 0.79**: slightly more call positioning than puts (mildly constructive).
- **Option Volume P/C = 2.22**: today’s trading activity skewed heavily to **puts**, implying **near-term caution/hedging/speculation**.
- IV (30d) ~39.94 vs historical vol ~42.43: options are not extremely expensive versus realized movement; IV percentile 63 suggests volatility is elevated versus much of the past year.
Net: positioning looks **mixed**, but the **volume flow is bearish near-term**, which fits the weakening MACD and the imminent earnings catalyst.
Technical Summary
Sell
6
Buy
7
Positive Catalysts
- **Earnings catalyst (QDEC 2025, reported 2026-01-29 pre-market):** a strong report or upbeat outlook could quickly re-rate the stock.
- **Industry/brand strength:** Mercury Marine showcased major leadership at Düsseldorf Boat Show; product innovation awards and reported brand sales growth.
- **Wall Street improving tone:** notable **Jefferies upgrade to Buy with a $115 PT**, plus prior Buy initiations/target raises implying expectations for 2026 improvement (leaner inventories, operating leverage).
Neutral/Negative Catalysts
- **Pre-market earnings tomorrow:** price can gap against you immediately after results (important for an investor who wants to buy “right now”).
- **Profitability deterioration in latest reported quarter (2025/Q3):** large net loss and negative EPS reduce confidence until clarified by management (charges vs core weakness).
- **Near-term technical momentum weakening:** MACD negative and expanding; stock sits below pivot (86.969) with downside to 84.887/83.601 supports.
- **Options volume skewed to puts (P/C 2.22):** suggests traders are leaning defensive into catalysts.
- **Cyclical/rate sensitivity:** marine demand is discretionary and tends to be sensitive to financing conditions.
Financial Performance
Latest quarter provided: **2025/Q3**.
- Revenue: **$1.360B**, **+6.82% YoY** (top-line growth positive).
- Net income: **-$235.5M**, **-628% YoY** (sharp deterioration).
- EPS: **-3.58**, **-634% YoY** (material profitability setback).
- Gross margin: **25.79%**, down **~1.38 pts YoY** (margin pressure).
Bottom line: sales grew, but profitability weakened significantly in 2025/Q3; for long-term investors, the key question is whether this was largely one-time/temporary or a sign of tougher underlying demand/mix.
Growth
Profitability
Efficiency
Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends
Recent trend (late 2025 into Jan 2026): ratings/targets have become **more optimistic overall**, but with meaningful dispersion.
- **Jefferies (2026-01-06): Upgraded to Buy; PT $115 (from $65)** — expects accelerating revenue trends, higher margins, operating leverage.
- **Morgan Stanley (2026-01-16): Equal Weight; PT raised to $81 (from $72)** — still muted fundamentals view.
- **Seaport (2025-12-08): Buy; PT $90** — says now is the right cycle point to gain exposure.
- **Loop Capital (2025-12-23): Hold; PT $74** — prefers waiting for a pullback after a strong run.
- **Roth (2025-10-30): Buy; PT $79** — positive long-term participation/share gains, but PT sits below current price.
Wall Street pros vs cons:
- Pros: structurally improved model, leaner channel inventories, strong brands/market leadership, potential 2026 demand tailwinds.
- Cons: cyclical end market, rate sensitivity, recent run-up, and uncertainty after a weak-profitability quarter. Also, several price targets cluster **at/under the current price**, limiting near-term “analyst PT upside” consensus.
Wall Street analysts forecast BC stock price to fall over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for BC is 81.36 USD with a low forecast of 70 USD and a high forecast of 115 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
13 Analyst Rating
Wall Street analysts forecast BC stock price to fall over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for BC is 81.36 USD with a low forecast of 70 USD and a high forecast of 115 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
7 Buy
6 Hold
0 Sell
Moderate Buy
Current: 85.770
Low
70
Averages
81.36
High
115
Current: 85.770
Low
70
Averages
81.36
High
115
Morgan Stanley
Stephen Grambling
Equal Weight
maintain
$72 -> $81
AI Analysis
2026-01-16
Reason
Morgan Stanley
Stephen Grambling
Price Target
$72 -> $81
AI Analysis
2026-01-16
maintain
Equal Weight
Reason
Morgan Stanley analyst Stephen Grambling raised the firm's price target on Brunswick to $81 from $72 and keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares. Gaming, lodging and leisure fundamentals were "muted" in 2025, with select areas of acceleration skewed to companies serving older, wealthier consumers, the analyst tells investors in a 2026 look ahead note on the group. For 2026, the firm expects "more of the same fundamentally," with the added wrinkle of rates boosting goods over services, the analyst added.
Jefferies
Hold
to
Buy
upgrade
$65 -> $115
2026-01-06
Reason
Jefferies
Price Target
$65 -> $115
2026-01-06
upgrade
Hold
to
Buy
Reason
Jefferies upgraded Brunswick to Buy from Hold with a price target of $115, up from $65. The company enters 2026 with a "structurally improved" business model, "lean" channel inventories, and improving demand tailwinds, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm believes accelerating revenue trends, higher margins and operational leverage set the stage for earnings outperformance for Brunswick.
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