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A man checks his smartphone while standing among illuminated screens bearing the Uber logo.
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Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Thursday:
Evercore ISI initiated Uber as ‘outperform’
Evercore ISI initiated the ride-sharing company with a favorable view and said Uber has built a “diverse and powerful” digital platform.
“We initiate on UBER with a $60 PT giving 40% upside on their “diversified growth at scale” or “platform as a product” and in LYFT we see a “ridesharing pure play” with a $74 PT leaving 28% upside. We see powerful near term catalysts for re-rating of both stocks on the back of a quietly improving pricing environment, incentive maturation, and we expect both to show profitability sooner than consensus is modeling. After a clearly rocky debut, we believe increased education on the business model of ridesharing will lead to multiple expansion.”
Evercore ISI initiated Lyft as ‘outperform’
Evercore ISI said Lyft is “disrupting” the auto industry and its valuation is aided by the fact that it’s one of only two rideshare networks in the U.S.
“We view LYFT as the pure play beneficiary of the increasingly powerful demographic and secular tailwinds within NA ridesharing, which is disrupting the $1.2T US auto transportation market (and $75Bn+ near-term TAM). We see Lyft’s Rev growing at 1.5x+ the industry bookings rate through ’25 or a 23% CAGR with upside drivers (from 6 Factor model – City TAM, penetration, engagement) which could drive that growth CAGR to 30- 35% over the next 3 years. Our model suggests BE in 2022 or 1yr earlier than consensus. Our Outperform Rating and $74 Target Price is based on the view that current valuation levels leave room for a positive re-rating if competitive pricing becomes more rational. A more benign pricing environment would support powerful operating leverage, driving ~$1.2Bn in EBITDA on $9Bn in ’25 Rev (23% ’18-’25 CAGR). “
Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Disney to $160 from $135
Morgan Stanley said it sees higher forecasts for Disney‘s direct-to-consumer streaming service.
“We are raising long-term direct-to-consumer subscribers and overall consolidated earnings estimates, leading to a new $160 price target (+18% upside) and $210 bull case (+55% upside). We forecast over 130mm global OTT subscribers by ’24, broadly in line with the company’s new guidance. Our willingness to underwrite these higher DTC estimates stems from 1) a faster-than-expected global launch, 2) more IP aggregated more quickly than anticipated, and 3) a plan to leverage third-party distribution. This higher expected revenue scale combined with an expectation for DTC profitability in ’24 and ~7% pro forma operating income growth (’19-’24) leads us to forecast over $11 of adjusted EPS in ’24. We think DIS shares can sustain a premium multiple during this transition, and our $160 price target reflects ~20x ’24 adjusted EPS discounted back to mid ’20.”
Susquehanna initiated Kontoor Brands as ‘positive’
Susquehanna said Kontoor has an attractive dividend yield, a superior management team, and a sales and margin turnaround with limited downside. Kontoor is the maker of Lee and Wrangler jeans.
“KTB offers an attractive dividend yield, superior management team, and a sales and margin turnaround story with limited downside, which makes for a compelling investment, in our view. However, investors must have the patience to wait for the turnaround to come to fruition. We see little risk to KTB’s initial FY19 sales and EBITDA guidance, which contemplates the rollout of a global ERP platform, headwinds from the SHLD bankruptcy, and WMT destocking. KTB has one of the highest dividend yields in the retail sector with the low risk characteristics of utility & consumer staple stocks. Our $36 price target implies a dividend yield of ~6.2%, higher than most all Sector ETFs, and we see little to no risk to the dividend. “
Wedbush upgraded Lennar to ‘outperform’ from ‘neutral’
Wedbush upgraded the home builder based on mortgage rates at 2-year lows as well as a rebound in western markets.
“We are upgrading Lennar to OUTPERFORM from NEUTRAL and raising our PT to $62 from $50. With mortgage rates at 2-year lows, western markets rebounding, and continuing demand for affordable housing by multiple demographic groups, investors should be willing to pay a higher multiple for homebuilder earnings which is the reason for our higher PT and the upgrade. “
Bank of America upgraded Dominion Energy to ‘neutral’ from ‘underperform’
Bank of America said the power and energy company offers a more “balanced” risk/reward.
“We are upgrading Dominion Energy to Neutral from Underperform with an $80 PO (from $79). We believe the shares offer a more balanced risk/reward proposition given our view that the market has factored in the risks associated with Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP). Moreover, we see the recent sell-off following the equity unit offering as somewhat overdone. Our SOTP-based PO suggests a total return of c.11%. While we believe ACP could remain an overhang until resolved, we believe the Street has already discounted ACP in valuation significantly, and solid execution at the core utilities makes us more positive on the shares. Further, we believe the voluntary retirement program (VRP) represent upside potential to O&M initiatives, and while we do not necessarily view it as incremental to the 5+% EPS guidance, we see it as helping to firm up those expectations with the upcoming 2Q call. We see fewer overall downside risks, with shares now trading at a wide discount to the group (~16% or 16.0x vs. 18.9x). “
