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One Analyst Thinks Square Should Be a Part of the FANG Group

One Analysts Thinks Square Should Be a Part of the FANG Group

(Bloomberg) -- The popular acronym for large-cap tech stocks could soon have a new ring to it.

Square Inc. should be the newest member of the FANG complex, Nomura Instinet wrote in a note to clients Tuesday, highlighting the fintech firm’s “buoyant” payment volume as well as its revenue and marketing trends. The analyst, who has a buy rating on San Francisco-based Square, raised his price by nearly 50 percent to a Wall Street high of $125.

“Similar to FANG stocks that have disrupted traditional markets with massive global TAMs, SQ’s fully cohesive solutions and rapid rate of innovation suggest that it is en route to disrupt the global payments ecosystem,” Nomura analyst Dan Dolev wrote in a report titled “Adding the ‘S’ to FANG(S).”

Square shares rose as much as 5.6 percent to $90.88 Tuesday. The stock has gained more than 160 percent this year.

One Analyst Thinks Square Should Be a Part of the FANG Group

Dolev’s new target beats out recent boosts by two other analysts. Last week, Stifel and Evercore ISI increased their price objectives to what were, at the time, Wall Street highs of $100 and $101, respectively.

“But is SQ too expensive?” Dolev wrote. “Not when taking into account its stellar 45% expected three-year revenue CAGR, which makes it screen more attractively than many payment peers and FANG stocks.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Lily Katz in New York at lkatz31@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Catherine Larkin at clarkin4@bloomberg.net, Arie Shapira

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