iHeartMedia Gains On JP Morgan Upgrade as Cost Cutting Seen Bearing Fruit  By Investing.com

By Dhirendra Tripathi    Investing.com – iHeartMedia (NASDAQ:IHRT) shares were up more than 2% in Monday’s trade following an upgrade by JP Morgan to overweight.    JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) analyst Sebastiano Petti raised his target for the stock by 70.6%, to $29.    “While we do not look for broadcast revenue to fully recover to prepandemic levels, advertising demand is strong and poised to accelerate as the economy re-opens. We are also impressed by the robust growth in iHeart’s digital segment including the company’s industry-leading podcasting platform,” Petti said in a note.    He said the company’s recent efforts at cost cutting would lead to strong flow through to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortiation, and free cash flows.    In the last quarter, the company managed to reduce employee compensation expenses because of modernization initiatives. It also saved on variable costs due to postponement or cancellation of in-person events in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It also cut sales commissions.    The company last week declared its first quarter earnings and gave an optimistic guidance.    It said it will return 2019 adjusted Ebitda levels by the end of 2021. With April revenues up approximately 85% year-on-year and podcasting revenue rising approximately 170%, it said Q2 revenues could go up as much as 65%.