SQ - Block Global Payments get Overweight ratings at Stephens amid fragile backdrop
Stephens has initiated coverage of five large cap payment providers, rating Block (NYSE:SQ -7.8%) Global Payments (GPN -0.9%) and Fidelity National Information Services (FIS -1.4%) at Overweight and PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL -5.3%) and Fiserv (FISV -0.1%) at Equal Weight. Block (SQ) and Global Payments (GPN) were initiated with a $170 price target, Fidelity (FIS) at $125, PayPal (PYPL) at $135 and Fiserv (FISV) at $110. Analyst Charles Nabhan kept a "cautious" stance on the sector: "While the fragile economic backdrop and highly competitive environment remain headwinds, we believe risk/reward has improved considerably given deeply discounted valuations in the space." He also highlighted secular tailwinds including payments digitization and demand for value-add solutions. For Block (SQ), Nabhan noted, "We view execution against a substantial TAM across Cash App & Seller serves as a catalyst for multiple expansion. SQ’s 2-sided network is a differentiator in the highly competitive FinTech and SMB space, and Afterpay is a driver
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Block, Global Payments get Overweight ratings at Stephens amid fragile backdrop