The bearish case for BlackBerry Ltd BB 1.91% can no longer be justified after the stock’s 40% decline over the past year, according to BofA.
Contents
The Analyst
Bank of America analyst Daniel Bartus upgraded Blackberry’s stock from Underperform to Neutral with a price target lifted from $6 to $7.
The Thesis
Blackberry is composed of five business units and the company is worth $5.05 per share under a bear case, $6.95 per share under a base case, and as much as $9.46 under a bull case, Bartus said. As such, the stock likely has support at the $5 level, which implies “limited” downside potential and the potential for “substantial upside.”
Bartus said a bullish stance can’t yet be justified as Blackberry remains a “show-me story” and better execution is needed moving forward. The company boasts some attractive assets, including Cylance, which is a leader in next-generation endpoint protection platforms. However, Cylance is suffering from three issues that need to be resolved, including acquisition uncertainty like sales turnover and a shift from endpoint protection to endpoint detection.
The QNX auto segment has lost some momentum recently but remains a leader in the lucrative auto software industry back by strong partnerships with leading chipmakers.
The Athoc business has “some potential” for a turnaround and could be seen as an “underappreciated” asset.
Blackberry’s stock is trading valuation at 2.2 times 2021 EV/Sales versus peers that are mostly north of three times. The research firm’s revised $7 price target is based on a peer consistent multiple of three times 2021 EV/Sales.
Price Action
Shares of Blackberry were trading higher by 2% at $5.61.
[“source=benzinga”]
