Bearish Pandora Analyst Calls Deal With Microsoft A 'Fairy Tale,' Maintains Underweight Rating

Albert Fried & Company believes Microsoft

/Pandora

story is likely a “fairy tale” and the Microsoft board is “likely to refuse a transaction with Brian McAndrews," CEO of Pandora. The firm's Tullo recalled a deal in 2012 where “Microsoft wrote down its $6.2 billion in cash to buyout of aQuantive an Ad Exchange operated by [current] Pandora CEO Brian McAndrews.” The analyst suggested the purchase of aQuantive “is one of the reasons why McAndrews is not the MSFT CEO.” Tullo maintains an Underweight rating and $23 price target on Pandora. Despite the seemingly bearish comments from Tullo, Pandora shares are up nearly 4 percent on Wednesday. The stock is now up more than 5 percent so far this week.