(CercleFinance.com) – The stock rose nearly 4% at the end of the day, benefiting from two positive analyzes on the stock.
Oddo maintains its outperformance rating on the Sopra Steria share, with a price target raised from 214 to 236 euros.
The analyst relies on the results that exceeded expectations for the 2022 financial year, with in particular organic growth of 8% in the 4th quarter when the consensus was counting on 6% and Oddo on 6.4%, and an ROA of 453 ME, 3% above expectations, reflecting an MOA of 8.9%, up 80 points.
Management is positive about demand, which remains strong at the start of 2023, reports Oddo. Sopra Steria is thus aiming for organic growth of 3 to 5% in 2023 (Oddo is at 3.1%, the consensus at 2.9% pre-publication) as well as an operating profit slightly above 9%.
Believing that it is ‘a very good publication from Sopra Steria’, the analyst indicates that the only bad news comes from the difficulties encountered at SFT. ‘The problem is not so much the short-term financial impact, which is quite negligible, but rather the impact this will have on the group’s ambitions for SBS in Germany’.
‘Following this publication, we are raising our organic growth forecasts for 2023 and 2024 to 4.7% and 4.8% respectively (against 3.1% and 4.0%)’, concludes the broker.
Deeming the valuation ‘aberrant with regard to fundamentals’, Invest Securities also reiterates its ‘buy’ opinion on Sopra Steria, with a price target raised from 198 to 228 euros, ‘convinced that the rerating initiated at the beginning of 2023 must be prolonged, even s ‘amplify’.
“The 2022 achievements are solid and above all the 2023 guidance is reassuring, with even the possibility that the company will do better due to a very cautious scenario adopted for the second half,” points out the analyst.
‘In addition, non-operational factors (IS, provisions, Axway) and the integration of the acquisitions of CS Group and Tobiana have significant impacts, which leads us to raise our expectations quite clearly’, he continues.