GoDaddy (NYSE: GDDY) released it’s Initial Public Offering on April 1 and raised about $460 million with an IPO price of $20. Following the stock’s public debut, shares jumped 30%. Shares of the website-hosting provider have since decreased slightly, but analysts remain bullish on potential growth. Shares of GoDaddy last closed at $24.88.
GoDaddy has been recognized by it’s provocative advertisements that many find offensive. However, the company is now seeking to shed that image and stopping it’s practice of raunchy television advertisements. Now, GoDaddy serves more than 13 million customers and manages more than 59 million domain names.
GoDaddy is back in the limelight as it is scheduled to release first quarter earnings, and it’s first report as a publicly traded company, tomorrow after market close. Analysts estimate that the company will post earnings per share of $0.22.
On May 11, Jason Helfstein of Oppenheimer initiated coverage on GoDaddy with an Outperform rating and a $31 price target. Helfstein commented, “As the largest provider of domains and hosting, [GoDaddy] is well positioned to benefit from secular tailwinds as small businesses adopt a web presence.” The analyst based his $31 price target on the company’s “high visibility from it’s low-churn subscription-based model, longer operating history, higher brand awareness and largely organic growth.”
Jason Helfstein has a 56% overall success rate recommending stocks with a +9.4% average return per rating.
Separately on May 11, Mark Mahaney of RBC Capital initiated coverage on GoDaddy with an Outperform rating and a $30 price target. Mahaney is bullish on the company due to it’s large customer base, substantial amount of market share, and consistent growth. The analyst noted GoDaddy’s large addressable market of “almost half a million small businesses” that are started each month in the United States, half of which are not online. Furthermore, Mahaney noted GoDaddy’s “dominant leadership position… based on it’s substantial revenue base and per [RBC Capital’s] proprietary surveys.” Mahaney sees the company’s consistent profitability as a means for further margin expansion through scale. Lastly, Mahaney addressed several opportunities for growth, such an international expansion.
