Analysts Stocks

      Daily Update - February 9, 2023

      Selected highlights of the day

      Selected highlight

      Uber surprises Wall Street

      Uber released a forecast of adjusted Ebitda offering a range between $660 million and $700 million for the first quarter. This is far greater than the analysts’ estimated average of $593.06 million according to Refinitiv data.

      The fourth quarter showed strong financial results: revenue reached $8.61 billion – a 49% jump compared to last year’s figure of $5.78 billion – and exceeded expectations with Wall Street predicting figures of $8.51 billion. Moreover, they posted stronger earnings than expected at 29 cents a share, contrary to forecasts estimating a loss of 15 cents per share.

      Adjusted Ebitda soared from the previous year’s figure of 86 million to reach 665 million in this quarter – beating Wall Street estimates at approximately 624 million, representing an impressive increase overall. Growth was evident even beyond usual metrics; total gross bookings surged at nearly 20% from 2019 reported levels to reach 30.7 billion, accompanied by 19% growth in the changed number of trips initiated through their platform.

      • RBC Capital analyst Brad Erickson has reiterated his Outperform rating and maintaining a price target of $46.
      • JP Morgan’s Doug Anmuth has increased his price target for Uber to $52, with an Overweight.
      • Wells Fargo analyst Brian Fitzgerald set a price target of $53 while also Maintaining an Overweight rating.
      • Susquehanna’s Shyam Patil has lowered his rating from $32 to $40 and reaffirmed a neutral rating.
      • Mizuho Ratings’ James Lee supplemented his Buy recommendation with a price target of $50.
      • Oppenheimer’s Jason Helfstein shifted his price target upwards to $55 while remaining with an Outperform rating.
      • Needham & Company’s Bernie McTernan increased with his buy rating a price target of $54.
      • Barclay’s Trevor Young decreased his to $45 and an Overweight ratings.
      • Citigroup’s Ronald Josey raised his stock forecast from $48 to $55.

       

      Rapid7

      Announced the release of their 4th Quarter and full year 2022 financial results Highlighting annualized recurring revenue (ARR) of $714 million; an increase of 19% from their 2021 numbers. The company witnessed a remarkable full-year revenue of $685 million, witnessing an impressive swell of 28% year over year; while its Products revenue clocked in at $648 million marking an extra impressive 29% climb y-o-y.

      • Morgan Stanley’s Erin Wilson lifts her price target from $44 to $48 while maintaining Equal-Weight.
      • Canaccord Genuity’s Michael Walkley revises his estimates from $55 to  $52 along with a transition from a Buy to a Hold rating.
      • Baird Shrenik Kothari moves their price target from $58 to  $56 but maintains an Outperform.
      • Analyst Gregg Moskowitz of Mizuho adjusts his pricing estimates for the stock from $40 to  $45 and a Neutral rating.
      • Barclays’ Saket Kalia retains her prediction of an equal weighted while raising her price target from $57 to $58.
      • Adam Tindle of Raymond James moved his price target from $50 to $55.
      • Piper Sandler’s Rob Owens adjusts his rating from Overweight to Neutral yet raising his stock forecast from 45$ to $52.

       

      Ceridian

      Announced its fourth quarter and full year 2022 results at the end of February 2021. Dayforce recurring revenue saw an impressive boost of 31.7% (or 34.7% when considering constant currency) year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2022. Rounding off the notable improvements, total revenue was up $336.1 million, equating to a 19.0%, or 23.0%, increase in the same time period on a constant currency basis. In addition, the annual Dayforce gross revenue retention rate closed out at 97. 1%. Showing further promise than analysts’ forecasts, Guidance for the first quarter also came in more upbeat too. Looking even closer at their success in fourth quarter day force recurring revenue from floated by excluding nonfloat based revenues amounted to $198.3 million which is nearly double that expected by analysts according to FactSet.

      • BMO Capital analyst Daniel Jester maintains an Outperform rating for Ceridian and raised his price target from $73 to $86.
      • Wells Fargo’s Michael Turrin upgraded his price target from $65 to $75 and remained with an Equal-Weight rating.
      • Credit Suisse’s Kevin Mcveigh similarly upgraded the price target, increasing it from $90 to $105 while maintaining his outlook at an Outperform.
      • Mizuho’s Siti Panigrahi set a Buy and a target price of $95 rising from $80.
      • Barclay’s Raimo Lenschow kept his stance of ‘’Equal-Weight’ and raised his price target from $64 to $74.
      • Cowen analyst Bryan Bergin maintains Ceridian with an Outperform and raised the price target from $77 to $87.

      AFRM

      Fintech firm Affirm Holdings has taken action by declaring the cutting of 19% of its jobs after their fiscal second quarter performance and outlook proved to be underwhelming. The founder and CEO of the company, Max Levchin stated that over the course of a year during which the market rapidly shifted and intensified shopping demands had called for agility which was apparently lacking with this tech giant.

      • Truist Securities Andrew Jeffre has dropped down his price target from $21 to $17 while still maintaining a “Buy”.
      • JP Morgan’s Reginald Smith Reginald Smith also lowered his price target from $19 to $16 while upholding a “Neutral”.
      • Mizuho’s Dan Dolev and Credit Suisse’s Timothy Chiodo have altered their price targets from initially $20 and $21 respectively to now bottom out at $18 and $16 respectively while mainlining a Buy and Neutral recommendations.
      • Deutsche Bank analyst Bryan Keane has given Affirm Holdings a Hold rating and lowered his price target from $18 to $12.
      • DA Davidson analyst Christopher Brendler stands with a Buy rating and lowered his target price from $24 to $20.
      • Goldman Sachs analyst Michael Ng has remained Neutral and has adjusted his predicted pricing to $14.5, previously set at $22.5.
      • Wedbush’s David Chiaverini maintains an Underperform rating while bringing the price target up from $10 to $16.
      • Piper Sandler’s Kevin Barker forecasts a more moderate $13 price target with a Neutral rating.
      • RBC Capital Markets’ Daniel Perlin chose to downgrade his Outperform to Peerperform with a price target of $17.

      Disney announces of layoffs

      Disney has announced a vast restructuring as part of which it plans to cut 7,000 jobs and reduce $5.5 billion in associated costs. CEO Bob Iger spoke on CNBC about the newly implemented strategy, highlighting the company’s focus on the future of streaming technology. He further explained that Disney would reorganize into three revised divisions namely; Entertainment, ESPN and Parks and Experiences. Disney Entertainment will encompass most streaming activities whereas the ESPN unit will include television services and its flagship streaming platform ESPN+. The newest division; Parks,Experiences and Products, unifies fan experiences through physical parks as well as virtual merchandise.

      • Goldman Sachs analyst Brett Feldman maintains a ‘Buy’ on Walt Disney and raises his price target from $119 to $136.
      • BOFA Securities analyst Jessica Ehrlich also revises her price target on Walt Disney stock from $115 to  $135 while maintaining a ‘Buy’ rating.
      • Loop Capital’s Alan Gould opines that Walt Disney stocks could fetch upwards of $130 and a Buy rating.
      • Rosenblatt Securities’ Barton Crockett raised the respective price target from $120 to $129 with the Buy rating.
      • Credit Suisse’s Douglas Mitchelson set an Outperform and raised his price target from $126 to $133.
      • Wells Fargo analyst Steven Cahall maintained Walt Disney with an Overweight and raised his price target from $125 to $141.