Analysts Stocks

      Daily Update - March 28, 2023

      Selected highlights of the day

      By: Matthew Otto

      Alibaba

      Announced its decision to split into six units, each with its own CEO and board of directors, is the biggest governance overhaul in the company’s 24-year history. The new holding company model will cover high-growth units including cloud computing and intelligence, global digital commerce, digital media and entertainment, commerce with the Taobao and Tmall businesses, Cainiao smart logistics, and local services. All six groups will be able to seek initial public offerings and raise outside capital, with the exception of Taobao/Tmall, which will remain wholly owned by the company. This move gives each business group the flexibility to pursue independent fundraising and IPOs when they are ready. CEO Daniel Zhang says, “the market is the best litmus test.”

      • Citi analyst Alicia Yap reiterated a Buy rating and $156.00 price target on Alibaba.
      • Morgan Stanley analyst Gary Yu reiterated an Overweight rating and $150.00

       

      BioNTech

      Reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2022including the invoicing of approximately 2 billion doses of COMIRNATY, its COVID-19 vaccine, in 2022, including approximately 550 million doses of Omicron-adapted bivalent COVID-19 vaccines. The company reported fourth quarter and full year revenues of €4.3 billion and €17.3 billion, respectively, with a net profit of €9.4 billion and fully diluted earnings per share of €37.77 ($39.77). BioNTech also announced that it plans to authorize a share repurchase program of up to $0.5 billion during the remainder of 2023, and that it has expanded and advanced its oncology pipeline to 20 programs in 24 ongoing clinical trials.

      BioNTech is expecting to generate approximately €5 billion in revenue from its COVID-19 vaccine sales in the 2023 financial year. This estimate takes into account various assumptions, such as the expected transition from advanced purchase agreements to commercial market ordering and the potential need for a vaccine adaptation to address new variants of SARS-CoV-2.

      COMIRNATY

      In terms of the COVID-19 vaccine programs, BioNTech and Pfizer announced in December 2022 that approximately 2 billion doses of COMIRNATY had been invoiced globally in 2022, including the Original/Omicron BA.4-5-adapted bivalent COVID-19 vaccine. Negotiations were ongoing for the re-phasing of delivery timelines for the COMIRNATY supply agreement with the European Commission.

      • Morgan Stanley’s Matthew Harrison maintained an Equal-Weight rating on BioNTech but lowered the price target to $150.
      • TD Cowen’s Yaron Werber lowered the price target to $130.
      • Canaccord Genuity’s William Maughan raised the price target to $203.00 from $191.00 and maintained a Buy rating on the stock.
      • Goldman Sachs’ Chris Shibutani maintained a Neutral rating on BioNTech but lowered the price target to $140.

      Carnival Corporation

      Has reported a better-than-expected performance for Q1 2023 with adjusted EBITDA of $382m, exceeding the December guidance range of $250m to $350m. Despite a $31m unfavorable impact from fuel price and currency rates since December guidance, revenue was $4.4bn, representing 95% of 2019 levels, while total customer deposits reached a first quarter record of $5.7bn, surpassing the previous first quarter record of $4.9bn by 16%. The company experienced the highest booking volumes for any quarter in its history, breaking booking records for both the North America and Australia and Europe segments,  up 16% from 2019 levels.

      First quarter 2023, reported a better-than-expected adjusted net loss of $690 million, or $(0.55) adjusted EPS, and adjusted EBITDA of $382 million, which beat December guidance despite a $31 million unfavorable impact from fuel prices and currency rates.The company guided for an EPS loss of 34 to 42 cents in the second quarter, more than StreetAccount’s estimate of 28 cents.

      • Credit Suisse analyst Benjamin Chaiken maintains an Outperform rating on Carnival and raises the price target from $16 to $18.
      • Barclays analyst Brandt Montour maintains an Overweight rating on Carnival and raises the price target from $12 to $13.
      • Wells Fargo analyst Daniel Politzer upgrades Carnival from Underweight to Equal-Weight and announces a $9 price target.
      • Citi analyst James Hardiman lowers Carnival’s price target from $12 to $10.

       

      Lyft co-founders

      Logan Green and John Zimmer are stepping down From their roles as CEO and president, respectively, and moving into non-executive roles on the board. The management overhaul has opened up strategic options, including a potential sale, according to analysts. The incoming CEO, David Risher, who has been on the Lyft board since July 2021, was previously a general manager at Microsoft and served as Amazon’s first head of product and head of U.S. retail.

      • DA Davidson analyst Tom White reiterated a Neutral rating on Lyft and maintained a $12.5 price target.
      • RBC Capital analyst Brad Erickson kept a Sector Perform rating and a $11 price target.

      Gamida Cell

      has reported its full year 2022 financial results. The company has announced a strategic restructuring, which will prioritize the launch of its advanced cell therapy candidate for allogeneic stem cell transplant, omidubicel, if approved. To reduce expenses, the company will discontinue the development of its preclinical NK cell therapy candidates while continuing to enroll patients in the GDA-201 Phase 1 clinical trial. Gamida Cell also plans to explore potential strategic partnerships to maximize patient access to omidubicel. The company reported positive data, regulatory interactions, and progress on commercial readiness activities supporting the launch of omidubicel. The company’s net loss for 2022 was $79.4 million, compared to $89.8 million in 2021, and it had total cash and cash equivalents of $64.7 million as of December 31, 2022.

      According to Gamida Cell’s financial guidance, the company’s current cash and cash equivalents are expected to support its ongoing operating activities until the third quarter of 2023.

      • HC Wainwright. analyst Vernon Bernardino maintains Gamida Cell with a Buy rating and lowers the price target from $22 to $5.
      • Oppenheimer analyst Mark Breidenbach maintains an Outperform rating and lowers his price target from $10 to $8.
      • Piper Sandler analyst Edward Tenthoff setshis stock forecast  at $5.

      Berkshire Hathaway

      Led by CEO Warren Buffett, has increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by purchasing an additional 3.7 million shares, bringing its ownership to 211.7 million shares, a 23.5% stake, according to a filing. The latest purchases were made at a price range of $58 to $59 per share, for a total of about $218 million. Berkshire has been increasing its stake in Occidental Petroleum over the past month, taking advantage of lower oil and gas prices. The purchase indicates Buffett’s patience in building stakes in companies, as Berkshire’s first purchases in Occidental Petroleum were disclosed over a year ago.

      TD Cowen analyst David Deckelbaum has lifted Occidental Petroleum from Market Perform to Outperform and raised the price target from $63 to $70.