Blend Labs Gains As Brokerages Start Coverage With Bullish Outlook

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Investing.com — Blend Labs stock (NYSE:BLND) was up 5% in Tuesday’s premarket trading as at least eight brokerages initiated coverage of the company that went public last month.

Seven brokerages rated the stock a ‘buy’ with UBS’ Karl Keirstead’s ‘neutral’ rating being the exception. The analyst sees the stock at $20.

The price targets for the stock vary between UBS’ $20 and Goldman Sachs $30, an upside of almost 54% from the stock’s close of $19.60 on Monday.

Blend is a white-label platform powering online consumer experience of banking software products. The company began with focusing on improving the mortgage loan application process and then expanded its offering to include auto loans, personal loans, credit cards and other financial products.

According to Wells Fargo’s Michael Turrin who has a $24 target for the stock, Blend has not only landed “some of the largest financial institutions in the world as customers,” but also fostered a strong relationship with customers, which has helped drive fast growth and “impressive” net expansion rates.

He believes the road ahead for Blend is likely to prove increasingly lucrative with time.

KeyBanc analyst Josh Beck based his optimism on Blend’s highly “configurable” software as well its management team led by founder Nima Ghamsari, supported by banking industry veterans like President Tim Mayopoulos and Marc Greenberg. Beck has a target of $25 for the stock.