In a report published Friday, Bank of America analyst Denise Chai upgraded the rating on Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) from Underperform to Buy, and raised the price target from $10.00 to $20.00.
In the report, Bank of America noted, “We are upgrading SPLS to Buy from Underperform and raising our price objective to $20 (from $10) based on 9.5x 2015x EV/EBITDA which is inline with the hardline average of 9.6x. We are also raising our price objective on Buy rated ODP to $9.5 based on 6x 2015 EV/EBITDA (from $8 prior). Our current estimates for ODP and SPLS do not factor a combination but based on what ODP has achieved on its own, we think $1,500mn over three years is achievable. In the two scenario analysis tables below, we evaluate the potential accretion from the cost takeout from a SPLS-ODP combination.”
Staples closed on Thursday at $16.10.
Latest Ratings for SPLS
| Dec 2014 | Bank of America | Upgrades | Underperform | Buy |
| Dec 2014 | Wolfe Research | Upgrades | Underperform | Peer Perform |
| Dec 2014 | Morgan Stanley | Upgrades | Underweight | Equal-weight |
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