The up-and-down saga that is Unity Software's (U -5.50%) trajectory over the past few years was far more up than down this week. Although the influential video game engine developer had little news of its own to report, an analyst's new take helped bolster investor sentiment on its business. According to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, as of early morning Friday Unity stock was up nearly 30% in price week to date.
A pundit stands by his buy
On Wednesday, white-shoe investment bank Morgan Stanley published a new note on the company authored by Matthew Cost. The pundit reiterated his overweight (read: buy) recommendation on the stock, and his $24-per-share price target.
Cost's latest take on the highly specialized tech company came after a series of investor meetings with CEO Matt Bromberg. According to reports, Bromberg went into some detail about a new advertising model slated to debut in 2025 that will positively affect the company's Grow Solutions business.
Additionally, Unity is hard at work developing a neural network that will take advantage of the copious data Unity has been able to compile. Finally, management aims to streamline its varied advertising efforts into one stack, part of an overall move to rationalize its operations and save costs.
Worth a play?
Unity is a turnaround story that has both fervent believers and skeptical critics. It has stumbled badly over the past few years, particularly with the disastrous (and thankfully abandoned) move to charge what it called a "runtime fee" to developers. The company has made sensible moves recently -- such as canceling that fee -- and it has a solid business foundation, so it could be a good buy on the cheap for the more risk-tolerant investors.
