Australia's Afterpay leaps to record high, nears $30 bln valuation

Asia Pacific Telecom Co

15/01/2021 03:29

** Shares of buy-now-pay-later giant Afterpay  APT.AX  surge
as much as 7.6% to a record high of A$130.20, making it the top
pct gainer on the benchmark index  .AXJO 
    ** Afterpay, the world's most valuable listed BNPL firm,
adds ~A$2.6 bln ($2.02 bln) in market value, which now stands at
A$37 bln 
    ** APT ended Thursday ~10% higher, following a stellar
market debut by U.S. rival Affirm Holdings  AFRM.O ,
highlighting strong investor interest in BNPL sector
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2JP0MK  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2JO3L7
    ** Morgan Stanley hiked APT's PT to A$136 from A$120 on
Thurs and raised its rev forecast, citing a better credit
quality outlook and increased app downloads in the U.S. and UK
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    ** Among the 14 analysts covering APT, current average
rating on the shares is "buy"; their median PT is A$107 –
Refinitiv data
    ** APT rose 2.5% this year, as of last close, after a
four-fold jump last year that turned it into one of Australia's
hottest stocks and among the 20 most valuable 
    
($1 = 1.2875 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Shriya Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru)
 ((Shriya.Ramakrishnan@thomsonreuters.com;))