Vertex upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies

Jefferies analyst Samad Samana upgraded Vertex (VERX) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $50, up from $35. The firm says that when it moved to the sidelines to start 2023, Jefferies underappreciated the durability of the Vertex’s sub revenue growth and the margin leverage on the other side of the post-IPO investment cycle. While the stock has risen sharply as leverage has returned, the firm believes there’s plenty of margin left to harvest. This paired with healthy Cloud revenue growth should support a premium valuation, it adds.