Goldman Sachs initiates Havas with 'buy' on resilient growth, strong balance sheet

Havas NV

16/05/2025 08:03

** Goldman Sachs initiates coverage on French advertising group Havas HAV.PA with a 'buy' rating and a EUR 1.9 target price

** Broker sees three reasons to buy Havas: resilient growth, margin improvement potential, and a strong balance sheet enabling M&A

** GS says Havas is expected to outpace peers in growth for 2025 and maintain similar growth thereafter

** Margin catch-up is anticipated due to restructuring, operational simplification, and a shift to higher-margin businesses, Goldman Sachs adds

** Shares trade at 6.5x P/E and a 13% free cash flow yield, representing a significant discount to peers (30%) and the EU market (54%), broker points out

** Out of 9 analysts that cover Havas NV, six rate the stock "strong buy" or "buy, "​three rate "hold" and no analysts rate the stock "strong sell" or "sell"

 (Reporting by Leo Marchandon)

 ((Leo.marchandon@thomsonreuters.com))