KeyBanc sees HubSpot as ‘differentiated enough’ from Google’s core business

Commenting on Reuters’ report saying that Google (GOOGL) was interested in making an offer to acquire HubSpot (HUBS), KeyBanc analyst Jackson Ader says that while it’s clear that regulators are taking a more aggressive stance against mega cap tech companies consolidating through acquisition, the firm believes that HubSpot’s pure software model is differentiated enough from Google’s core business to make the regulatory scrutiny less onerous than, say, the Adobe (ADBE) and Figma planned acquisition. Many of the recent consolidation efforts have been centered around quasi-M&A in a partnership-type relationship giving AI startups access to cloud platforms without merging companies, but this report sounds more like a straight down the middle acquisition, KeyBanc adds. The firm has an Underweight rating on HubSpot with a price target of $520 on the shares.