Analysts at Canaccord Genuity slashed their target price on publishing firm Future from 733p to 358p on Friday after the group's most recent update indicated its trading performance had been "well below consensus expectations".
Source: Sharecast
Canaccord Genuity noted that due to worse than expected audience trends, Future's higher margin revenue streams had performed worse than expected, and that the company now expects revenues to decline in H2, with lower-than-expected margins leading to an underlying earnings performance well below consensus estimates for FY26.
As a result, Canaccord Genuity cut its FY26 underlying earnings estimates by roughly 10% and stated it remains cautious going forward as it sees the "headwinds facing Future as structura"l.
"Future currently has a very low valuation on near-terms multiples, trading on a FY26E EV/EBITDA of 3.8x and PE of 3.3x. However, we do not see these multiples as a valuation support," said the Canadian bank, which has a 'hold' rating on the stock.
"The structural threat of AI, declining traffic, and limited visibility all raise questions like, whether there will be further potential downgrades and whether business would see sustainable future top line growth or not. Without growth recovery, we believe Future will remain at a structurally challenging valuation."
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