Spotify price target raised at Evercore ISI, removed from ‘Underperform’ list

Evercore ISI raised the firm’s price target on Spotify to $340 from $285 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares following what the firm describes as “Beat & Raise Q1 EPS results.” The “Big Story” this quarter was profitability, with gross margin and operating income both at record highs, says the analyst, who is removing the stock from the firm’s “Tactical Underperform” list. The list inclusion was based on risks to Q1 operating income and to the Q2 MAU outlook and while “both of these risks materialized,” they were “utterly swamped by the major Gross Margin inflection point,” the analyst tells investors.