What happened
Paysafe (PSFE -0.48%) shareholders beat the market on Thursday morning as shares rose 12% by 11 a.m. ET compared to a 1.1% increase in the wider market. It helped that the broader market jumped, but Paysafe also benefited from improving sentiment from Wall Street pros.
So what
An analyst at the Wall Street firm Cowen upgraded the digital gambling and payments processing stock and issued an aggressive short-term outlook that sees the stock nearly doubling over the next year. Shares might reach $7, according to Cowen, as Paysafe expands its sales footprint in the U.S. and Europe.
Image source: Getty Images.
The upgrade came at an opportune time for the stock, which had sold off significantly in the past year. With shares down over 80% in that time, even a small note of optimism was enough to boost the stock price. The wider market contributed to that rally, too, as major indexes jumped in early trading.
Now what
The real test of whether Paysafe can recover its lost ground will arrive over its next few earnings reports. Management warned of slowing growth and ballooning losses in its last operating update in mid-November. Sales fell in the third quarter, in fact. Executives also reduced their revenue and earnings outlooks, in part because of new gambling regulations that are impacting its European business.
For Paysafe to start marching back toward $7 per share, it will need to show that it can put these pressures behind it and reasonably target over $2 billion in annual sales soon. Investors will get a big update on that potential when the company announces fiscal fourth-quarter results in February.