Comcast price target raised to $50 from $46 at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI raised the firm’s price target on Comcast (CMCSA) to $50 from $46 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. On fundamentals, Q3 “wasn’t thesis changing,” but there were “a number of clear positives,” the analyst tells investors. However, the “most notable update” from Comcast’s Q3 print was the announcement that it is exploring the merits of spinning off assets from NBCUniversal’s cable networks portfolio. While the scope of a potential spin under management’s current thinking is perhaps narrower than some investors would prefer, this news “marks a significant shift for a company that has long touted the synergies between its two segments,” notes the firm, which believes it “clearly signals that management is open to alternatives for its mature assets facing secular challenges while it continues to invest behind its six growth engines.”