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Fly News Breaks for February 6, 2019
CRM, SERV
Feb 6, 2019 | 08:48 EDT
Morgan Stanley analyst Toni Kaplan said she expects ServiceMaster (SERV) management to guide to adjusted EBITDA that is materially below current consensus estimates when the company reports Q4 earnings later this month. She believes consensus has not built in higher costs from dis-synergies and a $9M investment related to its new partnership with Salesforce.com (CRM). She also expects investors to focus on Terminix organic sales growth guidance, which she predicts will be guided at roughly 2%. In a case where the company issues below-consensus FY19 adjusted EBITDA guidance with 2% or less organic revenue growth for Terminix, which she views as the most likely scenario, Kaplan sees the stock declining 7%. If the EBITDA guidance misses but Terminix organic revenue growth is guided to be 2.5% or better at the midpoint, Kaplan expects the stock to be flat. In a scenario where FY19 EBITDA guidance is in-line and Terminix organic growth guidance is 2.5% or better, Kaplan sees the stock increasing 5%. She keeps an Equal Weight rating on ServiceMaster with a $36 price target.