Truist Remains Bullish On Lightspeed Commerce, Naming It An Acquisition Target; Credit Suisse Downgrades The Stock - Lightspeed Commerce (NYSE:LSPD)

Credit Suisse analyst Timothy Chiodo downgraded Lightspeed Commerce Inc LSPD from Outperform to Neutral and lowered the price target from $21 to $18.
Given a combination of macroeconomic factors, a still challenging path toward achieving the ~20% non-GAAP EBITDA margin target, ramping efforts from scaled competitors, and a less attractive LTV/CAC demonstrated thus far, the analyst no longer prefers the shares.
The analyst awaits signs of success in the strategy pivot and abatement of macroeconomic pressures cited by management.
While the headline location number was disappointing, Lightspeed's performance with more prominent locations was more encouraging but still slower than vs. growth cited last quarter.
The analyst expects total locations to be challenged, given the combination of churn and lack of gross adds in this segment.
However, the analyst expects minimal GTV impact given that these locations make up ~5% of total GTV, although Chiodo expects total revenue per unit of GTV to compress the mix toward more prominent merchants slightly.
Truist Securities analyst Andrew Jeffrey maintained a Buy and raised the price target from $25 to $30.
Roughly in-line 3Q23 revenue speaks to a challenging retail backdrop and continued elevated small customer churn, partially offset by strong considerable customer growth and ongoing ARPU gains.
While cross-currents eliminated revenue upside, the management's accurate financial forecasts, focused product development, enhanced sales efforts, and progress on crucial monetization drivers impressed the analyst.
Jeffrey views Lightspeed as the leading software-enabled POS and payments provider to global complex merchants, given its large-retailer focus and early-stage payments monetization.
Lightspeed's leverage to normalize global consumer spend is significantly greater than its peers.
The analyst expected the FinTech industry to consolidate, making Lightspeed a potential acquisition target.
Price Action: LSPD shares traded lower by 2.39% at $17.13 on the last check Friday.

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs