UPDATE: BMO Capital Markets Downgrades Bazaarvoice to Market Perform, Lowers PT

In a report published Friday, BMO Capital Markets downgraded its rating on Bazaarvoice

from Outperform to Market Perform, and lowered its price target from $14.00 to $9.00. BMO Capital Markets noted, “After the departure of the CEO, a billings growth deceleration, the admission of sales execution issues, and now the announcement of a Department of Justice (DOJ) antitrust suit against BV yesterday, our confidence in a recovery over the next 12 months is now too low to support a bullish call on the stock. Moreover, we worry that BV's issues are not all internal and that the retail side of the business (~50% of the mix) may be too highly penetrated to support a 25%-30%-plus growth profile in fiscal 2014. In terms of the DOJ suit, we believe that it is too challenging to untangle the PowerReviews deal and that a more likely outcome is that BV agrees to restrict itself to a more narrow market and/or sell or spin out some assets.” Bazaarvoice closed on Thursday at $7.49.