Analyst Warms Up To Americold Realty Trust, Expects Strong Earnings Growth Despite Cybersecurity Breach Headwinds

RBC Capital Markets analyst Michael Carroll upgraded Americold Realty Trust Inc COLD to Outperform from Sector Perform at an increased price target of $36 from $33.
The analyst is bullish on the company's growth prospects post-announcement of Q1 2023 results.
COLD's Q1 revenues of $676.5 million missed the consensus of $707.2 million. Nevertheless, the adjusted FFO per share of $0.29 came higher than $0.26 a year ago.
Carroll expects COLD to witness strong earnings growth, with improving operating trends and occupancy to remain at the pre-COVID level in the coming years.
The analyst expects AFFO to increase by 12% in 2023, 16% in 2024, and 10% in 2025. He raised estimates for adjusted FFO per share to $1.24 for 2023 and $1.45 for 2024.
However, Carroll expects the recently occurred cybersecurity breach and higher interest expense to pose headwinds. The analyst expects the security breach to impact EPS by around $0.07 in 2023, resulting in lower revenues and increased labor and G&A expenses.
Price Action: COLD shares are trading lower by 0.59% at $30.42 on the last check Monday.

Start generating passive income through real estate.