** Shares of Southwest Airlines LUV.N rise nearly 2.5% to $43.98 in premarket trading
** J.P. Morgan double upgrades stock to "overweight" from "underweight"; raises PT to $60 from $36, a ~39.7% upside to stock's last close
** JPM says strong EPS guide from Southwest looks attractively probable and would significantly outpace expectations
** Adds that market may be slow to embrace it given the airline’s uneven guidance history and its move toward a more streamlined EPS format
** "In our view, igniting a debate between the health of its core and the impact of an admittedly challenging domestic backdrop, while we don’t expect Southwest to abandon quantifying its initiatives, the pending shift to an EPS guide has sent us back to the drawing board" - Brokerage
** 26 analysts rate stock "hold" on average; median PT is $42 - data compiled by LSEG
** As of last close, LUV up ~30.5% in the past 12 months
(Reporting by Akriti Shah in Bengaluru)
((akriti.shah@thomsonreuters.com))
Comments