** Shares of electric aircraft manufacturer BETA Technologies BETA.N fall nearly 2.3% to $26.6
** Morgan Stanley, BofA, Needham and BTIG initiate coverage with mixed ratings as quiet period ends
** Company secured valuation of $7.44 billion after shares opened at $27.2 in NYSE debut vs IPO price of $34
** "BETA will not just be an aircraft OEM, but we see BETA as an enabler of electric aviation," BofA says
** "BETA is akin to a young Tesla, but with more attractive endmarket of Aerospace, which has higher barriers to entry than Autos," Morgan Stanley says
** Jefferies says BETA is de-risking FAA certification through incremental steps, paving way for a simpler path to full aircraft clearance compared to peers
** Following are the ratings, PTs of brokerages which are also underwriters of BETA:
Brokerage
Rating
PT
BofA
Buy
$35
Needham
Buy
$34
Jefferies
Hold
$30
Morgan Stanley
Overweight
$34
BTIG
Buy
$40
(Reporting by Megavarshini G. Somasundaram in Bengaluru)
((Megavarshini.SomasundaramGnanasundari@thomsonreuters.com))