Deutsche Bank anticipates 'exceptionally strong' first half for 888

Deutsche Bank analysts upped their target price for shares of 888 Holdings citing the "extremely strong" momentum observed seen over the start of the year, updates from rivals and data on its own markets.

All of those factors pointed to an "exceptionally strong" first half for the gambling outfit, which led them to mark up their target price from 160.0p to 188.0p and to reiterate their buy recommendation.

The company had already announced that it experienced "extremely strong" momentum in the first 14 weeks of the 2020 financial year, to which one had to add recent updates from competitors Flutter and William Hill.

Their forecasts were calling for 25% top-line growth in the front half of the year due to 888's big exposure to online casino and poker, scant exposure to sports and lack of retail.

"Even assuming a flat H2, as markets normalise with the resumption of sports activity, we see strong upward pressure on forecasts," they added.

Deutsche also raised its forecast for 2020 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation by 13% driving a 23% upgrade to its estimates for 888's earnings per share.