Jefferies cuts PT for Australia's Appen following outlook removal

DG ITX Co

24/02/2022 18:35

** Jefferies cuts PT for Australia's Appen Ltd  APX.AX  to
A$12.00 from A$15.00, but retains "buy" rating
    ** The company that provides data used to train AI
algorithms on Thursday posted a 20% drop in H1 profit to $28.5
mln ($20.34 mln)  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2UZ00X
    ** It also scrapped its guidance, sending shares down as
much as 18%
    ** Jefferies says the removal was APX's first since listing,
although it is not clear whether it implied that visibility of
earnings has deteriorated further after results 
    ** The H1 results contained signs that investment in APX's
services is back to growth, despite key customers facing
multiple challenges - brokerage 
    ** Jefferies cuts 2022 adj net profit estimate by 8.9% to
$45 mln
    ** 5 of 11 analysts rate the stock "buy" or higher, 4 "hold"
and 2 "sell" or lower; their median PT is A$12.70 – Refinitiv
data
    ** Stock has fallen 23.2% this year, as of last close
 


($1 = 1.4011 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Jaskiran Singh in Bengaluru)
 ((Jaskiran.Singh@thomsonreuters.com;))