Emerald Snaps Up PlumRiver; Street Sees 24% Downside Risk

Emerald Holding announced the completion of its acquisition of software company PlumRiver. Shares of the business-to-business (B2B) trade show operator rose 3.1% on Wednesday.

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Emerald Holding (EEX) said the PlumRiver acquisition will expand its digital commerce capabilities and enhance its strategy of providing year-round customer engagement regardless of location.

Meanwhile, the deal will also extend PlumRiver’s Elastic Suite B2B platform to Emerald customer brands. PlumRiver’s Elastic B2B platform streamlines the buying process for both retail buyers and brands.

Emerald’s CEO Herve Sedky said, “the Elastic B2B eCommerce SaaS (software as a service) solution is expected to strengthen our existing live events, expanding both their relevance and growth profile, while also bringing an additive subscription-based revenue stream to Emerald.” (See EEX stock analysis on TipRanks)

On Jan. 6, Goldman Sachs analyst Katherine Tait downgraded Emerald Holding to Hold from Buy, but lifted the stock’s price target to $5.04 (5.1% downside potential) from $3.89.

Tait said that the stock has risen 86% since late May, and therefore she views Relx Plc as a “more compelling” stock. Tait added that although she remains uncertain about the recovery of physical tradeshows in FY21, she is optimistic that the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine will provide a more constructive environment in FY22.

The consensus among analysts is a Hold based on 2 recent unanimous Holds. The average price target of $4.02 suggests that shares are poised to drop about 24.3% over the next 12 months. The stock has already plunged 49% over the past year.