Analysts at Berenberg lowered their target price on low-cost carrier EasyJet from 800.0p to 750.0p on Thursday to account for weaker near-term performance as it braces for “a cold winter ahead”.
Berenberg said EasyJet was finishing the financial year as expected but noted that all eyes were now firmly back on Covid-19 as a result of the newly emerged Omicron variant.
The German bank stated that EasyJet had pre-released its 2021 full-year results back in early October, meaning no major surprises were found within its full-year numbers.
However, Berenberg highlighted that the discovery of the Omicron variant just days before the release of its results had “unsurprisingly” affected sentiment over the past week.
“We continue to prefer carriers with strong balance sheets (like EasyJet, following its equity raise) in this environment, as they provide more reassurance looking through to summer 2022,” said Berenberg, which also reiterated its ‘buy’ rating on the stock.
Berenberg added that while a “harsh winter” may cause problems for some carriers, its analysts added that early indications for summer 2022 were promising, with EasyJet likely to “benefit disproportionately” from cuts at Alitalia and Norwegian.
