** Monster Beverage Corp MNST.O beat fourth-quarter sales estimates on Thursday, helped by improving demand for its products, including energy drinks and beverages.

** MNST shares up 6.1% at $55.12

** Thirteen of 26 brokerages rate the stock "buy" or higher, 11 "hold" and 2 "sell"; their median PT is $56 - data compiled by LSEG

SOLID RESULTS AMID MACRO PRESSURES

** Morgan Stanley ("overweight" PT: $60) says MNST results are solid and says the rating is driven by a resurgence in U.S. sales and rebounding category growth, the positive effect of price hikes, and MNST market share improvement

** J.P. Morgan ("neutral" PT: $53) says the call tone was constructive in comparison to prior calls and is cautiously optimistic despite volatility and pockets of consumer softness

** Citi Research ("buy" PT: $64) points to quarterly revenue and gross margin as positives and U.S. sales miss, Jan trends and EPS miss as negatives, believes MNST is a strong long-term growth story

** Piper Sandler ("neutral", PT: $51) says MNST's Ultra Vice Guava helping co hold market share from competitors in sugar-free beverages and believes downsizing alcohol segment is the right direction for profitability

** RBC Capital Markets ("outperform", PT: $63) says January sales suggest underlying organic strength even in the context of softer trends in U.S., says margin concerns were eased with co's comments on aluminum hedging "to a nice extent in 2025"

(Reporting by Aamir Sohail in Bengaluru)

((Aamir.Sohail@thomsonreuters.com;))