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(Sharecast News) - Analysts at Berenberg slashed their target price on market research firm YouGov from 600p to 395p on Tuesday following the release of the group's first half earnings.
Berenberg said it had cut its FY26 and FY27 underlying earnings forecasts by 11% and 9%, respectively, due to increased investment in Shopper, a market research panel where members scan their shopping receipts to earn rewards, to drive its growth.
The German bank said the strategic review of Shopper and YouGov's announcement of its value delivery plan, which includes 350 basis points of underlying margin benefit, were "positives and an indication of the strategic intent" of both management and the board.
"On our new numbers, YouGov trades on an FY26E FCFe yield of 10.9%, a P/E of 6.4x and an EV/EBITDA of 4.5x as investors ponder the impact of AI," said Berenberg.
However, Berenberg also noted that YouGov's panel and data quality were "strategic assets", highlighted through the signing of Anthropic as a customer.
"YouGov now expects FY26 adjusted operating profit to be 52m-56m. We decrease our FY26 adjusted EBIT forecast by 11% to 52.2m. We also decrease our FY27 and FY28 forecasts by c8-10% due to Shopper investment, partially offset by wave one and two efficiencies. We assume 200bp of margin accretion in FY27," said Berenberg, which reiterated its 'buy' rating on the stock.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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