DraftKings Lands 10 Price Target Hikes After Upping 2023 Guidance

DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG) earned at least 10 bullish price target revisions from sell-side analysts in the second trading day following the release of the company’s upped 2023 revenue guidance. The stock cooled off today, closing lower by 1.63%.

Last Thursday, the sportsbook operator boosted the midpoint of its 2023 sales forecast to $3.185 billion from $2.95 billion, while estimating the midpoint of its expected earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) loss for this year will be $315 million, up from $400 million. That, coupled with constructive commentary from management on a May conference call with analysts, prompted today’s spate of price target increases.

One area some analysts were impressed with was DraftKings’ emerging leadership in the iCasino space, which has been aided by the acquisition of Golden Nugget Online Gaming (GNOG).

Turning to iCasino, we believe the acquisition funnel provided by the OSB strength, as well as the GNOG customer database additions, helped fuel ~590 bps of market share improvement in the 1Q23, relative to the 1Q22,” wrote Deutsche Bank’s Carlo Santarelli. “While the deeper than peer OSB customer base favors DKNG in the iCasino battle with peers, we expect competition from existing peers within the segment to heat up, especially in light of limited new legislative efforts.”

He maintains a “hold” rating on DraftKings, but boosted his price outlook on the name to $22 from $15.

Product Improvement Could Be Catalyst

For now, only Kentucky and Puerto Rico are viewed as likely additions to the live and legal US sports wagering landscape over the remainder of 2023. Additionally, there’s a burden on operators such as DraftKings to reduce marketing and promotional spending – something many companies are already doing.

“With DraftKings launching their new in-house priced live SGP into the 2022/23 NBA season, user retention between football and basketball seasons improved significantly Y/Y factoring for much of the upside to prior guidance,” wrote the analyst.

He also rates DraftKings a “hold” with a $25 price target, up from $23. Three of the price objective increases on the gaming stock took those estimates above $30. Those Canaccord saw going to $34 from $30, Susquehanna going to $36 from $28, and Guggenheim increasing DraftKings target to $32 from $27.

Bearish Analyst Begrudgingly Lifts DraftKings Price Target

Even noted DraftKings bear Roth MKM analyst Edward Engel joined the DraftKings price target hike party, though not in overly ebullient fashion. Maintaining a “sell” rating on the stock, Engel lifted his price forecast to $18 from $15 — well below today’s closing print of $24.18.

In a note to clients, the analyst cautioned that DraftKings’ revenue and EBITDA growth could slow in significant fashion in 2024 and 2025.