Updates
** Shares of Australia's Baby Bunting Group BBN.AX rise as much as 2.9% to A$2.88, marking biggest intraday pct jump since October 2
** Citi analysts see rebound in Australia's birth rate as positive for maternity and baby goods retailer
** Brokerage maintains both "buy" rating on stock and target price of A$3.52
** Mentions official data of Australia seeing a +2% increase in registered births in 2024, which is "positive for Baby Bunting's CY25/CY26 sales" in Citi's opinion
** We see a number of self-help initiatives for Baby Bunting to drive medium-term earnings growth — Citi
** However, brokerage still flags early caution for stock, given there is a long tail of stores to be refurbished, among other issues
** Stock up 66.7% YTD, as of last close
(Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru)
((shivangi.lahiri@thomsonreuters.com))