Afterpay jumps over 5% after Morgan Stanley sets a A$170 target

Asia Pacific Telecom Co

18/02/2021 23:19

(Adds shares, brokerage ratings)
    ** Afterpay  APT.AX  shares jump 5.1% to A$157.7 after
Morgan Stanley bumped its price target by 25% to A$170.1 
    ** The buy-now-pay-later giant is set to report strong H1
growth next Thursday
    ** Morgan Stanley sees 13% upside to its PT
    ** Says APT's U.S. app downloads in Jan and Feb are running
around 80%-100% above last year 
    ** APT can further expand its offerings, challenging rivals
already in areas such as peer-to-peer payments, bill payments
and small business credit lines - Morgan Stanley 
    ** The broker envisions more financial partnerships, and
looks ahead to the launch of Afterpay saving accounts later this
year via Westpac Banking Corp's  WBC.AX  banking service
platform
    ** APT shares up 27% so far this year; underperforming
smaller rivals Zip Co Ltd's  Z1P.AX  121% surge and Sezzle's
 SZL.AX  ~70% jump
    ** APT's median PT is A$115 with 9 of 14 analysts holding a
'strong buy' or 'buy' rating - Refinitiv eikon

 (Reporting by Nikhil Kurian Nainan)
 ((NikhilKurian.Nainan@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter:
@NikhilKurianN))