Should I Buy HELE? HELE 2026 Analysis

Should You Buy Helen of Troy Ltd (HELE) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.

Conclusion

Hold

Latest Price

18.760

1 Day change

3.30%

52 Week Range

60.420

Analysis Updated At

2026/02/05

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Not a good buy right now for an impatient buyer: trend is still bearish (SMA_200 > SMA_20 > SMA_5) and fundamentals remain weak after a loss-making quarter.
Price is sitting right around key support/pivot (~17.93) (pre-market ~17.86). That can produce a bounce, but the broader setup doesn’t justify an aggressive chase.
Options flow is mildly bullish on volume, but overall activity is light and doesn’t overwhelm the bearish chart + weak financial trajectory.
Hedge funds/insiders show no strong accumulation signal.

Intellectia Proprietary Trading Signals

AI Stock Picker: no signal on given stock today.
SwingMax: No signal on given stock recently.

Technical Analysis

Trend: Bearish structure (SMA_200 > SMA_20 > SMA_5) suggests the stock is still in a downtrend / weak regime.
Momentum (MACD): Histogram -0.0359 (below zero) and negatively contracting → downside momentum is easing, but not flipped bullish.
RSI (6): 59.0 → neutral-to-slightly bullish, not an oversold “forced buy” setup.
Key levels:
- Pivot: 17.928 (price pre-market ~17.864 is slightly below pivot)
- Support: S1 16.589 (next downside area if pivot fails)
- Resistance: R1 19.267, then R2 20.094 (areas where rallies may stall)
Pattern-based odds provided: ~50% chance of modest upside (+2.3% next day; +3.32% next week), but that’s not strong enough to override the bearish moving-average stack.

Options Data

Bullish

Open Interest Put-Call Ratio

Bullish

Option Volume Put-Call Ratio

Positioning (Open Interest): Put/Call OI ratio 0.93 = fairly balanced / slightly call-leaning, not a fear-dominant hedge posture.
Flow (Volume): Put/Call volume ratio 0.5 = call volume > put volume (bullish tilt), but today’s total volume (361) is low vs 5–10d averages (5d avg ~1059; 10d avg ~851), so sentiment signal is not very strong.
Volatility: IV30 65.6% vs HV 49.8% (options priced rich vs realized), while IV rank ~15.7 / IV percentile ~24.3 suggests IV is relatively lower vs its own history (potentially better for buyers than usual, but still high in absolute terms).
Takeaway: Slightly bullish options tilt, but not a “crowd is piling in” signal today.

Technical Summary

Sell

Buy

Positive Catalysts

can attract dip buyers.

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

- Primary trend remains bearish (SMA stack bearish), meaning rallies can fail quickly.
- Latest quarter was loss-making and deteriorating YoY, which typically caps valuation multiple expansion.
- Analyst messaging emphasizes challenges and weaker forward guidance (reduced price targets; “challenging exit rate”).
- No supportive news catalysts in the past week to drive a fast re-rating.
- No notable hedge fund/insider accumulation trend reported recently.
- No recent congress trading data (no confirmation from political/influential buying).

Financial Performance

Latest reported quarter: 2026/Q3
Revenue: $512.8M, -3.37% YoY (continued top-line pressure).
Net Income: -$84.1M, down -269.41% YoY (material deterioration; deep loss).
EPS: -3.65, down -268.20% YoY (significant earnings weakness).
Gross Margin: 46.87%, -4.07% YoY (margin compression adds risk to near-term recovery).
Bottom line: growth trends are negative and profitability is currently the biggest headwind to a “buy now” decision.

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

Recent trend: price targets have been cut/trimmed, and ratings remain cautious (Neutral/Hold bias).
UBS (2026-01-09): Neutral; PT cut $25 → $22; better Q3 but weaker guidance implies a tough outlook.
Canaccord (2026-01-09): Hold; PT cut $23 → $22; sequential improvement but “challenges remain” and profitability pressured.
Wall Street pros: selective brand strength, some sequential improvement.
Wall Street cons: weaker guidance/exit rate, profitability pressure, and reduced targets → limited confidence in a fast turnaround at this time.

2 Analyst Rating

Wall Street analysts forecast HELE stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for HELE is 22 USD with a low forecast of 22 USD and a high forecast of 22 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.

0 Buy

2 Hold

0 Sell

Hold

Current: 18.160

Low

Averages

High

Current: 18.160

Low

Averages

High

Goldman Sachs

Neutral -> Sell

downgrade

AI Analysis

2026-01-21

Reason

Goldman Sachs

Price Target

AI Analysis

2026-01-21

downgrade

Neutral -> Sell

Reason

Goldman Sachs downgraded HelleniQ Energy to Sell from Neutral. In 4Q, the refining market was especially tight driven by heavy refinery maintenance across US/Europe, Russian refining capacity disruptions and higher diesel demand into winter, but the firm's rating change for the stock reflects a weak petchem environment and below consensus estimates, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Goldman adds that despite the company's strong operational execution, improving fundamentals in the marketing business, as well as the scale-up of its renewable power business, it sees downside risk to 2026/27 consensus estimates.

UBS

Peter Grom

Neutral

downgrade

$25 -> $22

2026-01-09

Reason

UBS

Peter Grom

Price Target

$25 -> $22

2026-01-09

downgrade

Neutral

Reason

UBS analyst Peter Grom lowered the firm's price target on Helen of Troy to $22 from $25 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. Helen of Troy posted a better than expected Q3 report, but weaker guidance implies a challenging exit rate looking ahead, the analyst tells investors in a research note.

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HELE Should I Buy

HELE Should I Buy

Should You Buy Helen of Troy Ltd (HELE) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.

Technical Analysis

Options Data

Technical Summary

Positive Catalysts

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

Financial Performance

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

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