Credit Suisse upgraded SPOT to "outperform" from "neutral"
The shares of popular music-streaming service Spotify Technology SA (NYSE:SPOT) are, at last look, up 7.9% at $264.22. This pop comes after Credit Suisse upgraded the stock to "outperform" from "neutral" after the close yesterday and hiked its price-target to $315 from $215. The analyst in coverage raised Spotify's 2021 subscriber forecast by 4 million, citing the "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast, becoming exclusive to Spotify in January, as well as those of the 60 million currently offered free Spotify in Russia -- through mobile carrier MTS -- that will become paying subscribers.
After coming within a chip-shot of its July 22 record high of $299.67 at the start of this month, SPOT has since pulled back to familiar support at the $240 region. Still up 63.7% year-to-date, the equity is contending its 60-day moving average, which, before this week, it hadn't closed below since mid-April.
Nine of the 18 analysts in coverage sport a "buy" or better rating on Spotify stock, with four a "hold" and five a "strong sell." Meanwhile, another round of price-target hikes could be in order, as the 12-month consensus price target of $259.18 is now a 1.9% discount to current levels.
What's more, the stock's
Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) sits high at 85 out of 100. This means SPOT has tended to exceed option traders' volatility expectations during the past year -- a boon for option buyers.