Sports betting operator DraftKings Inc (NASDAQ:DKNG) received an upgrade from Stifel analyst Jeffrey A. Stantial. The move comes amid the NFL playoffs and ahead of Super Bowl LVIII.
The DraftKings Analyst: Stantial upgraded shares of the Boston-based company from Hold to Buy. He also raised the price target from $40 to $45.
The Analyst Takeaways: Stantial cites same-state handle growth, hold-rate expansion, marketing discipline and EBITDA upside as reasons for the upgrade.
"We take advantage of the slight correction, as we argue near-term share headwinds are fading," Stantial said.
It's "time to take the over" on DraftKings, Stantial said, referring to the act of betting on teams to score a higher amount of points than expected.
Stantial said there remains some caution with the upgrade and upside. DraftKings may have lost market share in the last quarter due to PENN Entertainment's (NASDAQ:PENN) ESPN Bet.
But the analyst sees ESPN Bet's easing on promotions helping DraftKings.
"We expect market share headwinds to ease in Jan/Feb, and hence opportunistically upgrade shares following the recent pullback," Stantial adds.
While some people joined the sports betting sector through ESPN Bet, Stantial argues this could increase the overall market size. People may make the switch to DraftKings or FanDuel as "retention is driven primarily by betting product quality."
The analyst calls DraftKings and FanDuel "clear best-in-class" for the sector.
One potential item for investors to watch is Flutter Entertainment's (OTC:PDYPY) listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Flutter, which is currently OTC, is the parent company of FanDuel.
"We've heard some investors call out risk of rotation from DraftKings into Flutter thereafter, arguing that DraftKings has benefited from scarcity value as the sole U.S. listed operator of-scale."
What Other Analysts Are Saying: On Friday, Exane BNP Paribas analyst Alistair Johnson downgraded shares of DraftKings from Neutral to Underperform and has a $28 price target.
Earlier this month, BMO Capital analyst Brian Pitz initiated shares with an Outperform rating and $43 price target.
"We see a vast opportunity as more states legalize, allowing DraftKings to dramatically expand its footprint and profitability," Pitz said.
Pitz expects the U.S. market for online sports betting and iGaming to surpass $100 billion if every state legalized it.
Needham analyst Bernie McTernan reiterated a Buy rating and $50 price target on the company in December.
DKNG Price Action: DraftKings shares are down 2% to $36.90 on Friday versus a 52-week trading range of $13.41 to $39.35.
體育博彩運營商DraftKings Inc（納斯達克股票代碼：DKNG）獲得了Stifel分析師傑弗裏·斯坦蒂爾的升級。此舉是在NFL季後賽和超級碗LVIII之前採取的。
DraftKings分析師：Stantial將這家總部位於波士頓的公司的股票從持有上調至買入。他還將目標股價從40美元上調至45美元。
分析師要點：Stantial將同州的賬面增長、持有率擴張、營銷紀律和息稅折舊攤銷前利潤上行列爲升級的原因。
斯坦蒂爾說：“我們利用了小幅回調，因爲我們認爲短期股市的不利因素正在消退。”
斯坦蒂爾說，現在是 “接管DraftKings的時候了”，他指的是押注球隊獲得比預期更高的分數的行爲。
Stantial表示，對升級和上行空間仍持謹慎態度。由於賓夕法尼亞娛樂公司（納斯達克股票代碼：PENN）的ESPN投注，DraftKings可能在上個季度失去了市場份額。
但這位分析師認爲，ESPN Bet放鬆促銷活動對DraftKings有所幫助。
Stantial補充說：“我們預計市場份額的不利因素將在1月/2月有所緩解，因此在最近的回調之後會機會性地上調股價。”
儘管有些人通過ESPN Bet加入體育博彩行業，但Stantial認爲這可能會擴大整體市場規模。人們可能會轉向DraftKings或FanDuel，因爲 “留存率主要是由博彩產品的質量驅動的”。
這位分析師稱DraftKings和FanDuel在該行業 “顯然是同類最佳的”。
投資者可能關注的一個項目是Flutter Entertainment（場外交易代碼：PDYPY）在紐約證券交易所的上市。現爲場外交易的Flutter是FanDuel的母公司。
“我們聽到一些投資者指出了此後從DraftKings轉向Flutter的風險，他們認爲DraftKings作爲唯一的美國上市運營商受益於稀缺價值。”
其他分析師在說什麼：週五，Exane BNP Paribas分析師阿利斯泰爾·約翰遜將DraftKings的股票評級從中性下調至表現不佳，目標股價爲28美元。
本月早些時候，BMO Capital分析師布萊恩·皮茨以跑贏大盤和43美元的目標股價啓動了股票。
皮茨說：“隨着越來越多的州合法化，我們看到了巨大的機遇，這使DraftKings能夠顯著擴大其足跡和盈利能力。”
皮茨預計，如果每個州都將在線體育博彩和iGaming合法化，美國的在線體育博彩和iGaming市場將超過1000億美元。
Needham分析師伯尼·麥克特南在12月重申了對該公司的買入評級和50美元的目標股價。
DKNG價格走勢：週五，DraftKings股價下跌2％，至36.90美元，而52周的交易區間爲13.41美元至39.35美元。
