Raymond James analyst Andrew Marok upgraded Spotify Technology S.A. to Outperform from Market Perform with a $150 price target.
The stock has traded off significantly from all-time highs in early 2021 due to slower than expected scaling of the company’s podcasting business and, most recently, soft margin guidance.
Marok saw the bad news as priced at the trading levels, with relatively limited downside creating a favorable risk/reward scenario.
He believed Spotify remained a best-in-class streaming audio platform with ample subscribers runway and low churn.
Marok also saw some potential catalysts, including the upcoming investor day offering more optimism.
Spotify remained the market leader in streaming music with crucial competitive advantages, including a global presence, best-in-class user experience, and differentiated podcasting content.
The improved outlook has factored in the unchanged challenges, including record labels’ significant power in platform negotiations limiting upside on the headline royalty rate for the music business, and investor caution around podcasting investments.
Marok acknowledged some blowback from Netflix, Inc’s poor performance, leading to some avoiding streaming media entirely.
Interestingly, while Netflix faced an onslaught of competition from an ever-growing field of services, the competitive landscape in streaming music was largely stable.
