Berenberg lowers target price on Blue Prism

Firstly, Berenberg noted that Blue Prism had again revised its growth expectations downwards in its first-half trading update and asked whether the "significant revision" to its growth expectations was simply a case of new conservatism at the company or evidence of competitive pressures.

"The revised guidance in the H1 trading update points towards decelerating revenue growth, but with a clearer path towards cashflow breakeven and eventually profitability. A portion of this decelerating growth can be explained by Covid-19, but for us it also raises questions about the RPA market, pricing, competition and Blue Prism's commercial strategy," said the analysts.

Next up, the German bank asked if the IPO of UiPath had renewed investors' focus on Blue Prism's competition and stated that both events posed "a number of difficult questions" for the company in terms of growth, product, sales strategy and the wider competitive environment.

"Although priced at a substantial discount to UiPath, Blue Prism must provide comfort on each of these points before we can become more positive," said Berenberg, which also reiterated its 'hold' rating on the stock.