Sell-Side Bullish On Uber As Quiet Period Ends

More than a dozen sell-side analysts issued Buy recommendations Tuesday for Uber Technologies Inc. UBER as the waiting period on rating the stock expired for banks that worked on its recent IPO.

“Uber is a transformational company that should benefit from secular shifts to the sharing economy (Rides), time saving services (Eats), and more efficient marketplace evolution (Freight),” Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Justin Post wrote in a note.

Even though Uber is a 10-year-old company, it’s “in the early innings” in its trajectory, said Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak, and there’s room to grow. Nowak pointed out that its ride-sharing user penetration is still only about 20 percent in the U.S.

Analysts said the bullishness was a long-term sentiment, given that Uber expects losses through 2022, and the expected volatility resulting from new competition and regulation questions, that come with the territory in a new industry.

The only analysts starting coverage without a Buy were those at Citi, which has a Neutral rating on the stock.

Around The Street

Here’s how most of the sell-side came down on Uber on Tuesday:

• Bank of America initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $53 price target.
• Morgan Stanley started Uber with an Overweight rating and a target price of $56.
• JMP began Uber with a Market Perform rating and a $54 price target.
• Barclays initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $50 price target.
• BTIG initiated coverage on Uber with a Buy rating and an $80 price target.
• Oppenheimer started Uber with an Outperform rating and a target price of $55.
• William Blair started Uber with an Outperform rating.
• Suntrust Robinson Humphrey initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $56 price target.
• Canaccord Genuity initiated coverage on Uber at Buy with a $55 target price.
• Cowen & Co. started Uber with an Outperform Rating and a $58 Price Target
• RBC Capital initiated Uber at Outperform and a $62 target price.
• Citi started Uber with a Neutral rating and a $45 price target.
• Mizuho began coverage on Uber with a Buy rating and a $50 price target.
• Deutsche Bank initiated Uber at Buy with a $58 price target.
• Needham started coverage with a Buy rating and a $52 price target.

Price Action

Uber's stock, which closed at $41.25 on Monday, traded around $2 per share at time of publication.

Related Links

Uber Options Traders Make Aggressive Bullish Bets On Near-Term Bounce

Munster Talks Uber, Lyft On 'Frontier Tech' Podcast

Photo courtesy of Uber.