KeyBanc Capital Markets upgraded Bumble to "overweight" from "sector weight"
Love "isn't a battlefield," per KeyBanc Capital Markets. The brokerage emphasized this point by upgrading
Bumble Inc (NASDAQ:BMBL) to "overweight" from "sector weight," noting resilient data related to dating and expectations that the
online match-making company can turn a profit.
The analyst cited product initiatives such as compliments and regional pricing, as well as international ramps and moderating foreign exchange headwinds. Plus, the brokerage's credit and debit card data tracker pointed to solid payer trends for Bumble in December.
Following the upgrade, Bumble stock is 3.3% higher at $20.72 in premarket trading. A ceiling has formed at the $21 level in recent sessions, while longer-term the 100-day moving average has kept a lid on price action. In the last 12 months, BMBL has shed 36.3%.
Circling back to sentiment, covering brokerages were mostly bullish on Bumble stock coming into today. Still, six of 16 rate it a tepid "hold," suggesting more bull notes could soon roll in.
Meanwhile, short interest is down 3.9% in the last two reporting periods, yet the 5.21 million shares sold short account for 7.5% of the stock's available float. At the security's average pace of trading, it would take shorts more than one week to buy back their bearish bets.