Piper ups Uber target, calls ‘sleeping giant’ in advertising

Piper Sandler raised the firm’s price target on Uber (UBER) to $88 from $86 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm says gig economy names, like all two-sided marketplaces, have a high-margin advertising opportunity that Amazon (AMZN) has proven out. While this is already in Instacart’s (CART) “lofty” unit profitability, Uber’s scale “makes it a sleeping giant,” the analyst tells investors in a research note. Piper sees a 2%-plus bookings attach rate as achievable by 2027, equating to $5B in revenue. The recent opening of Journey ads to programmatic buying may be a second half of 2024 catalyst, the firm adds. It increased estimates for Uber to reflect the company’s advertising revenue opportunity. At Uber’s “massive scale, it should handily outpace” Instacart in ad revenue in 2024 at $1B, according to Piper.