Berenberg raises target price on Codemasters

Analysts at Berenberg hiked their target price on video games developer Codemasters from 400.0p to 480.0p on Friday, stating the group presented a "substantial" discount to peers.

Berenberg opted to increase its estimates on Codemasters following the group's recent trading update, upping its 2021-22 revenue forecasts by 19.4% and underlying earnings estimates by 21.5%.

The German bank said the firm had delivered "a stellar performance" as it benefited from the Covid-19 "stay-at-home effect" and "the enduring quality" of its F1 franchise - the strong execution of which was now resulting in accelerated growth.

Despite Codemaster's "significant outperformance" during the first half, Berenberg added that it believes there is still further upside to come for the firm.

"Even after our +20% upgrade, we believe that investors can still access the secular growth of the video games industry via Codemasters on a 25% discount to peers," said the analysts, which also reiterated their 'buy' rating on the group.

"This makes Codemasters one of our top picks in our UK mid-cap technology, media, and telecoms coverage."