Groupon Stock Upgraded by Deutsche Bank (GRPN)

Daily deal site, Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) shares were upgraded to “buy” from “hold” by Deutsche Bank on Friday. The Bank also raised its price target on GRPN to $10 from $6. Shares rallied following the upgrade. In the research note, Deutsche Bank analyst Ross Sandler said that the bank’s equity research team believes that billings could climb 20% as Groupon Inc’s marketing strategy is now more focused on its mobile app and website instead of an email-based system. According to MarketWatch, mobile transactions amounted to 25% of the total transactions in January 2013. In the first quarter, in excess of 7 million mobile apps were downloaded, the Company said. In the research note, Sandler, said, “Groupon has already evolved into one of the best plays on mobile in our coverage universe.” “Mobile transactions made up 45% of Groupon’s total North American transactions as of March 2013, more than twice the percentage at companies like Expedia Inc. and eBay Inc,” added the research note. However, the overall sentiment among brokerage firms remains bearish on the stock. Currently, six equity research firms maintain “sell” or even worse rating on the stock, fifteen firms maintain “hold” rating while just two firms have assigned “buy” rating. In addition, the average price target is $6.34. The Chicago, Illinois-based Company handed better-than-expected fiscal first quarter results in May. The Company also projected optimistic outlook for the current quarter revenue. In the fiscal first quarter, Groupon reported 7.5% jump in revenue to $601.4 million while analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting $590 million. For the current quarter, the Company projected revenue to be in the range of $575 million to $625 million, at that time. Analysts were expecting $616 million