Oppenheimer downgrades Perion on advertising growth uncertainty

Oppenheimer downgraded Perion Network (PERI) to Perform from Outperform without a price target. The analyst cites uncertainty around the company’s long-term advertising growth for the downgrade. The firm says that while Perion’s reduction in search revenue comes after Microsoft (MSFT) culled its publisher network, it ever ascribed it much value to the segment. However, Perion is “clearly losing share” to social media, social video, connected TV and retail media, all of which have improved attribution and measurement over the past year, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Oppenheimer finds it unclear how long it will take Perion to improve its offering to clients.