Talktalk Telecom Group PLC (LON:TALK) shares rose on Wednesday morning as Bank of America Merrill Lynch double upgraded the company to ‘buy’ from ‘underperform’ and increased price target to 190p from 140p.
In a note to clients, analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said although TalkTalk has historically overpromised and under-delivered, they believe new management and their credible simplification strategy can reverse that cycle.
READ: TalkTalk announces sale of direct B2B unit as it reports 35% drop in profits
The analysts said: “For the first time in four years, we see guidance and consensus as achievable, ending the cycle of earnings downgrades.”
“Quite simply bigger, well-funded competitors in Sky and Vodafone have organically moved into triple/quad-play- they have little interest in buying TalkTalk, in our opinion, but a take-out remains a possible source of unexpected upside,” the analysts said.
In early morning trading, TalkTalk shares rose 4.6% to 123.10p.