[ET Net News Agency, 15 October 2018] J.P. Morgan initiated coverage on Meituan
Dianping (03690) with an "overweight" rating and a price target of HK$90.
Meituan is the leader in China's local consumption market. As the three-pillar business
model of China Internet (ads, ecommerce and gaming) approaches its mature stage, the
research house thinks Meituan offers investors the potential for long-term capital
appreciation, given its sizable addressable market (8x larger than Baidu, 6x larger than
Tencent (00700) and half of Alibaba on an ex-finance basis), low penetration in local
consumption (11% online penetration in 2017 versus 56%/15%/14% for ads/ecommerce/gaming)
and leadership position in the market.
While we might see near-term share price volatility due to weak market sentiment on the
broad China Internet space and concerns around Alibaba competition, JPM believes the
current share price offers potential upside on both a 12-month and three- to five-year
view. (KL)