NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) - A strong outlook for 2024 and positive new medium-term targets should drive the price of Sartorius shares, according to US bank JPMorgan. Sartorius should surprise positively on the presentation of the figures for the final quarter of 2023, which the laboratory equipment supplier will publish together with its French subsidiary Sartorius Stedim Biotech on January 26, JPMorgan analyst Richard Vosser wrote in a study published on Tuesday. He therefore gave the share "Positive Catalyst Watch" status.

The rating was left at "Overweight". The target price since the last change at the beginning of December is 315 euros. Shortly before quarterly reports, analysts often wait for these before revising their price targets.

According to Vosser, the market expects the Bioprocess Solutions Division (BPS), in which Sartorius bundles the product portfolio for the manufacture of biopharmaceuticals, to grow quite slowly in 2024. However, it expects mid to high single-digit sales revenue growth and an improved BPS order situation in the final quarter of 2023.

In addition, he expects the new medium-term targets for 2028 to offer upside potential for the Stedim subsidiary's forecasts and largely underpin his expectations for the Sartorius Group. "This should then support the recent positive development of the shares," he explained his vote.

The fourth quarter itself should also have been solid, with Sartorius Group's operating profit (EBITDA) and that of Stedim likely to be slightly above the average analyst forecasts calculated by Bloomberg. "We expect Sartorius to forecast sales revenue growth 'in the mid-single-digit percentage range at constant exchange rates' for 2024."

According to the analyst, the forecast for adjusted EBITDA is likely to be given in margins of just over 30 percent, whereby he assumes that a margin expansion to "just over 31 percent" is forecast for the BPS division. According to the JPMorgan expert, the margin of the Lab Products & Services (LPS) division, which offers laboratory products and services, is likely to be "just over 25 percent".

Vosser's forecasts for the subsidiary Stedim, on the other hand, are more cautious and, according to him, are likely to be around four percent below the Bloomberg consensus for both sales and adjusted earnings.

According to the "Overweight" rating, JPMorgan expects the share to outperform the respective sector in the coming six to twelve months./ck/gl/jha/

Analyzing institute JPMorgan.

Publication of the original study: 01.01.2024 / 17:14 / GMT First transmission of the original study: 02.01.2024 / 00:15 / GMT