On Wednesday, Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Sabre (NASDAQ:SABR) Corporation (NASDAQ:SABR), a major player in the global distribution system (GDS) market, with an Overweight rating and a price target set at $5.00. The firm's stance is based on the belief that GDSs will continue to be essential to the travel industry and that Sabre is well-positioned to maintain or even increase its market share.
The travel market has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels, which suggests there is room for significant growth in the coming years. Cantor Fitzgerald sees this as an opportunity for Sabre to capitalize on. Furthermore, the company's ongoing technological shift from mainframes to cloud computing is expected to cut technology costs by approximately $150 million. Additional cost-saving measures, including resource realignment and expense management, are projected to save another $100 million.
These strategies contribute to Sabre's target of reaching $700 million in adjusted EBITDA by the year 2025. The firm anticipates that the reduced capital expenditure needs and higher cash flow from these initiatives will allow Sabre to decrease its debt, thereby lowering its cash interest expenses and aligning its leverage multiple with pre-pandemic figures.
Looking beyond 2025, Cantor Fitzgerald predicts that Sabre's technological advancements will enable the company to launch new products and generate additional revenue streams. There is also the potential for Sabre to start returning capital to its shareholders through buybacks and dividends once it has solidified its financial standing.
The analyst points to Sabre's historical average EV/EBITDA multiple of 9.2x before the pandemic. If Sabre successfully executes its outlined plans over the next two years, the firm expects that Sabre's multiple could revert to these levels, which would signify a substantial increase from its current stock price, especially considering the recent decline in share value following the fourth-quarter results of 2023.
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