Shares of DraftKings Inc. DKNG, +3.68% rallied 2.2% in morning trading Wednesday, after Morgan Stanley analyst Thomas Allen turned bullish on the online sports betting company, citing a much bigger than expected total available market (TAM) for the iGaming industry. Allen said sports betting and iGaming revenue reached $3 billion in 2020, well above his forecast of $2 billion, with the strength of iGaming extending well beyond casino closures resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
That suggests acquired customers will continue to make bets, leading to sports betting revenue that beats fourth-quarter expectations despite a weaker sports calendar, he said. Allen raised his rating on DraftKings to overweight, and boosted his price target to $60 from $39. He expects DraftKings’ fourth-quarter revenue to beat Wall Street expectations by about 10%, and expects revenue from 2022 through 2025 to be more than 25% above current consensus. “We also expect [DraftKings] to start to talk about profitability in NJ, as FanDuel did, countering the beat thesis that the industry will never be profitable,” Allen wrote in a note to clients. The company is projected to report fourth-quarter results in late February, with the FactSet revenue consensus at $231.8 million. The stock has climbed 23.2% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 SPX, +1.39% has gained 11.6%.