Brean Capital Initiates Autohome At Buy Citing E-Commerce Expansion, Sets $31 Target

Brean Capital's Fawne Jiang initiated Autohome Inc (ADR) (NYSE: ATHM) at Buy, with a price target of $31.00. The initiation comes after Autohome reported Q1 EPS of $0.39 and revenue of $169.6 million last week.

Jiang is optimistic on Autohome's strategic push to expand into e-commerce. "We believe the company is well positioned to capture the expanding [e-commerce] market opportunities given its solid content foundation and user base" and will drive top-line growth, said the analyst.

Related Link: Autohome Has Formed An Independent Special Committee To Consider A "Going Private" Proposal

The Brean Capital analyst warned, however, investment for new e-commerce initiatives, "particularly the headcount additions and advertising expenses, could weigh on margins in the near term."

Autohome closed Friday's trading at $24.88.