Mackie Research lowers target on theScore, maintains buy rating

Following a lackluster quarter, Mackie Research Capital analyst Nikhil Thadani today lowered his price target on theScore (theScore Stock Quote, Chart, News: TSXV:SCR) from $.50 to $.45, although he maintained his “Buy” recommendation on the stock. His new target implied a return of 150 per cent at the time of publication.

This morning, theScore reported its Q2, 2017 results. The company lost $2.1-million on revenue of $6.7-million, a topline that was up 15.5 per cent over the $5.8-million in revenue the company reported in the same period last year.

“This quarter saw us once again strengthen the engagement within our mobile apps while increasing the sophistication of our advertising business to drive ongoing revenue growth and positively impact our pathway to profitability,” said CEO John Levy. “Our product team remains focused on the continued enhancement of our flagship sports app, with new features being rolled out over the remainder of fiscal 2017, while also supporting other areas of our business, like esports and bots, to ensure we’re meeting the evolving needs of sports fans.”

Thadani says theScore is a company in need of catalysts, though he believes there is plenty of value in the stock.

“Our 45¢/sh reflects ~3.5x forward sales, roughly in-line with advertising driven peers,” he says. “Investors have been wanting to see user base growth for some time, Q2 (Feb) core app Monthly Active Users (MAUs) of 4.3 mln vs. our 4.5 mln estimate is unlikely to convince investors.”

Thadani thinks theScore will post EBITDA of negative $5.8-million on revenue of $26.6-million in fiscal 2017. He expects those numbers will improve to positive EBITDA of $1.0-million on a topline of $35.7-million the following year.