** Shares of Bath & Body Works BBWI.N down 2.4% at $30.98 premarket, after Barclays downgrades to "underweight" from "equal weight"
** Brokerage says there is risk of ongoing sales and margin pressure in 2025 from a weakening U.S. macroenvironment and stabilizing beauty sector
** Adds that BBWI has resorted to aggressive promotions which are indicative of weak consumer spending
** Barclays says BBWI faces strong competition during the holiday season as all retailers fight for the consumer's "holiday wallet" broadly
** "These are trends we do not expect to reverse into 2025," brokerage says
** Ten of 19 brokerages rate the stock "buy" or higher, eight "hold" and one "sell"; with a median PT of $42
** Up to Thursday's close, stock had fallen ~26% so far this year
(Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru)
((AnanyaMariam.Rajesh@thomsonreuters.com ; X: https://twitter.com/AnanyaMariam))
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