SoftBank Group (OTCMKTS:SFTBY) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Shares gapped up before the market open (from $11.10 to $11.97) and are trading up about 12.3% at roughly $12.44 on volume of ~808,000 shares.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed — three Buys, two Holds and one Sell leave MarketBeat's average rating at "Hold", with recent notes ranging from Cantor Fitzgerald's overweight start to Jefferies' downgrade to underperform.
• Fundamentals show a low P/E of 5.75 and a $142.34B market cap, and the company posted an EPS beat ($0.14 vs. $0.10) with revenue of $12.90B; leverage and liquidity metrics are moderate (D/E 0.96, current ratio 0.83).

SoftBank Group Corp. Unsponsored ADR (OTCMKTS:SFTBY - Get Free Report) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $11.10, but opened at $11.97. SoftBank Group shares last traded at $12.4380, with a volume of 808,006 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on SFTBY. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on SoftBank Group in a research note on Monday, March 9th. They issued an "overweight" rating on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of SoftBank Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of SoftBank Group in a report on Monday, January 5th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Citigroup began coverage on SoftBank Group in a research note on Monday, January 5th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded SoftBank Group from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, SoftBank Group presently has an average rating of "Hold".

SoftBank Group Trading Up 12.3%

The stock's fifty day moving average price is $12.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $142.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

SoftBank Group (OTCMKTS:SFTBY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.04. SoftBank Group had a return on equity of 23.66% and a net margin of 48.62%.The company had revenue of $12.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.44 billion. Research analysts forecast that SoftBank Group Corp. Unsponsored ADR will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

About SoftBank Group

SoftBank Group Corp is a Tokyo‐based multinational conglomerate holding company with a primary focus on technology, telecommunications and investment management. Founded in 1981 by Masayoshi Son, the company initially operated as a software distributor before expanding into mobile communications and internet services. Over the years, SoftBank has built a diversified portfolio that spans telecom operators, semiconductor design, cloud computing, and emerging technology ventures.

A key pillar of SoftBank's strategy is its investment arm, the SoftBank Vision Fund, which targets high‐growth technology companies around the globe.

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