** Shares of chocolate maker Hershey HSY.N up ~1% at $154 premarket
** Brokerage Citigroup raises rating on stock to "neutral" from "sell"
** HSY's FY25 outlook sets a reasonable floor off which the company is likely to grow in 2026, even if cocoa prices do not decline - brokerage
** Adds, there are more potential upside drivers for HSY including incremental pricing as well as lower elasticity than risk items like still-high cocoa prices
** HSY beat Q4 results on Thursday owing to rebound in demand for its salty foods segment in North America
** Co expects 2025 adjusted earnings per share to be between $6.00 and $6.18, below analysts' estimates of $7.34 per share - data compiled by LSEG
** Three of 26 brokerages rate the stock "buy" or "higher", 18 "hold" and five "sell"; their median PT is $160 - LSEG
** HSY fell about 9% in 2024
(Reporting by Anuja Bharat Mistry in Bengaluru)
((AnujaBharat.Mistry@thomsonreuters.com;))
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