Afterpay at record high again this week, Jefferies sets A$153.08 target price

Asia Pacific Telecom Co

20/01/2021 02:16

(Updates)
    ** Afterpay  APT.AX  climbs as much as 6.2% to a record high
of $142.3, valuing the buy-now-pay-later leader at A$40.58 bln
($31.28 bln)
    ** Shares were last up 4% at A$138.98
    ** Jefferies starts coverage on APT with "buy" rating, PT of
A$153.08 - the highest among 14 analysts, according to Refinitiv
    ** Nine of the 14 analysts rate APT a 'buy' with a median PT
of A$112.97
    ** APT is expected to release a Q2 update sometime this
month that should show a strong holiday bump 
    ** Jefferies expects APT's expansion in Europe and Asia to
boost transaction margins and earnings; forecasts the United
States to become its biggest market in 2021
    ** Expects U.S., Europe and Asia to generate total gross
merchandise value of A$208 bln ($160.16 bln) by FY30, compared
with A$11.11 bln in FY20
    ** Also expects margins to grow 45 basis points to 2.7% in
FY30 from 2.25% currently 
    ** APT up 13.6% so far this year to Tuesday, outpacing a
2.4% rise in the ASX 200 benchmark index  .AXJO  and after a
fourfold increase last year 

($1 = 1.2972 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Sameer Manekar and Nikhil Kurian Nainan in
Bengaluru)
 ((NikhilKurian.Nainan@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter:
@NikhilKurianN))