Quebecor wins price target raise at Scotia

Going into 2024, Scotia Capital analyst Maher Yaghi likes what he sees from Quebecor (Quebecor Stock Quote, Chart, News, Analysts, Financials TSX:QBR.B)

As reported by the Glove and Mail January 4, Yaghi, in a research update to clients, reviewed the Canadian telecom sector and decided QBR.B will be one of the winners.

“We believe QBR will perform well in Q4,” the analyst wrote. “On the Videotron side, the company was aggressive offering bundled discounts on wireless/internet during Black Friday and demand was strong based on industry contacts we have interacted with. Wireless loading is likely not as strong as Q3 (our estimate of 60K compares to 83K for consensus); however if viewed at on a year-over-year basis vs when Shaw owned the asset, the results should be very encouraging. We believe that capex at Quebecor is likely heading higher; however, the increase is unlikely to be material until 2025.”

Yaghi Thursday upgraded Quebecor from “Sector Perform” to “Sector Outperform and raised his price target from $36.00 to $38.25.

“We believe Quebecor continues to execute well in Quebec and is methodically growing its Freedom business without exerting pressure on the balance sheet,” he said. “While we continue to believe that the capex profile for QBR is likely to increase in the coming years, the increase is unlikely to be material until 2025 and beyond,” the analyst added.