UBS ups Campari to 'buy' on potential for faster growth
BUZZ-UBS ups Campari to 'buy' on potential for faster growth ** UBS upgrades Davide Campari CPRI.MI to "buy" from "neutral", citing the Italian spirits group's portfolio expansion and potential to accelerate organic growth
** The group shows positive Q3 inflection in the U.S., outperforming the industry, while in Europe "the ready-to-drink upside from Aperol and Campari could be even greater than for other global brands", UBS says
** It adds the group's margin mix benefit could be bigger in H2 than in H1, pointing to acceleration in its structurally higher gross margin aperitif portfolio in both the U.S. and Europe
** UBS says Campari trades at a 6-10% discount vs food and high-performance computing stocks, with a 15% share price pull back from YTD highs offering a good entry point
** The brokerage raises PT by about 15% to €7.00; the stock closed at €5.72 on Friday
** Campari shares rise 4.5% by 0844 GMT, the top performers on Italy's FTSE MIB index .FTMIB
** Out of 22 analysts that cover Campari, 10 rate the stock "strong buy" or "buy", 11 "hold" and one "sell" - LSEG data
($1 = 0.8662 euros)
(Reporting by Fabrizio La Rocca)