[ET Net News Agency, 8 October 2020] J.P. Morgan trimmed its target price for SJM
Holdings (00880) to HK$9.5 from HK$11 and downgraded its rating to "neutral" from
"overweight".
The research house thinks SJM will be one of the first Macau stocks that investors seek
to accumulate, if & when the dust settles on VIP uncertainty and industry demand
stabilizes - this is (obviously) because of Grand Lisboa Palace, which will be the first
major property launch in three years when it opens its doors in 2Q 2021.
That said, fundamentally, JPM struggles to justify outsized and relative upside to SJM
(versus peers) here, as such opportunity seems largely priced in given its outperformance
and valuation (12x on trailing 2019, versus peers' 10x on average).
Moreover, JPM thinks it's possible if not likely for SJM to delay or scale down (e.g.,
partial opening) the product launch against the current demand backdrop, which could pose
further downside to consensus estimates in 2021. (KL)