Shore Capital upgrades Spirax to 'hold', considers stock "fair value"

The fluid technology and thermal solutions group Spirax left its full-year outlook unchanged after increasing organic sales across all three of its businesses in the third quarter, saying it continues to expect mid-single digit organic revenue growth in 2024.

Nevertheless, the company said that the macro outlook for the wider industrial production industry continued to be "weak" during the third quarter, with output lower than previously forecast across Spirax's key geographic markets.

"We believe investors will be encouraged by the unchanged FY24F guidance and expect the shares to react positively, given the recent decline and fears of further potential downgrades," said Shore Capital analysts Tom Fraine and Akhil Patel in a research note.

"We upgrade our recommendation from 'sell' to 'hold', following recent share price weakness and a solid update in the context of difficult macro conditions."

The broker said the stock is now "fairly valued", but highlighted sector peer Spectris as an "attractive alternative".

The stock was up 4.2% at 6,640p by 1041 GMT, having dropped by nearly 40% so far this year prior to Thursday's update.