Brean Notes 'Buying Opportunity' In Groupon

In a report published Tuesday, analyst Tom Forte of Brean Capital maintained his Buy rating on

. The price target was maintained at $11. The analyst believes the current negative sentiment surrounding the stock offers a buying opportunity until the company announces its 1Q results in May. The company has updated its guidance, following the sale of Ticket Monster. This has removed some of the uncertainty surrounding Groupon's 1Q15 results. The company is scheduled to reports its 1Q results on May 5. "Groupon operates the 10th largest e-commerce platform, according to IDC, and connects 53.9MM active customers with more than 950,000 merchants (since its inception)," the analyst said. The analyst expects Groupon to achieve a long-term adjusted EBITDA margin of 17 percent, as compared to the 7.9 percent margin achieved in 2014. Sales for Q1 are likely to come in at the mid-point of the updated guidance range. The updated guidance reflects the elimination of Ticket Monster from the results as well as the impact of Fx headwinds. According to Brean Capital, there are three primary reasons for the current investor sentiment. The first relates to the valuation the company was able to garner for Ticket Monster. Secondly, there is some investor concern regarding the unfavorable currency movements; and thirdly, some investors believe the guidance provided for the company's core business shows deterioration since February, when the full year outlook was announced.