KUALA LUMPUR (July 21): Malaysians are increasingly shopping for their groceries in mini-markets in a trend that will fuel 99 Speed Mart Retail Holdings Bhd's (KL:99SMART) growth, said Phillip Capital.

While retail growth at supermarkets and hypermarkets has been broadly flat, mini-market sales charged ahead with 99 Speed Mart as the clear leader in a fragmented industry, the research firm said and initiated coverage on the stock with a ‘buy’ call and target price of RM4.35.

“Consumers are increasingly favouring convenience shopping, favouring neighbourhood stores for frequent top-up purchases over periodic bulk shopping trips,” Phillip Capital said in a note.

Phillip Capital is joining a majority of research houses bullish on 99 Speed Mart. The stock has 12 ‘buy’ calls, three ‘hold’, and only one ‘sell’ rating out of the 16 analysts tracked by Bloomberg. The average target price is RM3.93.

Shares of 99 Speed Mart have remained largely steady year-to-date after rallying nearly 57% in 2025 thanks to robust earnings and as investors sought shelter in defensive stocks to weather market volatility sparked US tariff imbroglio.

Phillip Capital’s target price values the company at 39 times its 2027 earnings, a premium over its weighted-average retail peers.

99 Speed Mart could see an average 14% annual earnings growth over the next three years driven by store additions, positive same-store-sales growth supported by higher footfall from government cash assistance programmes, and margin expansion, according to Phillip Capital’s projections.