Berry Corporation (Bry)

NASDAQ:BRYUnited States

2253 GMT - Amcor's newest bull says the proposed acquisition of Berry cements confidence in the packaging company's earnings outlook. Macquarie upgrades Amcor to "outperform," from "neutral," after concluding that 8% compound annual growth in EPS to FY 2029 is achievable. Amcor has a medium-term target of making $650 million of annual savings from its takeover of Berry. In a note, Macquarie points out that Amcor has a good track record of wringing costs from acquisitions, illustrated by earlier deals for Bemis and Alcan. "We find that after a period of near-term consolidation, Amcor's share price did well during synergy realization period for both Bemis/Alcan acquisitions," Macquarie says. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

2156 GMT - Packaging company Amcor's medium-term target of making $650 million of annual savings from its takeover of Berry looks achievable to Jefferies. Half of those savings are likely to come from cutting jobs and the benefits of greater scale in manufacturing. Amcor also expects to save some $60 million in lower net interest costs. "We have long doubted Amcor's ability to deliver above low-single-digit top line growth given consumer packaging is a mature, low growth industry," analyst Henry Copley says. "The merger of Amcor-Berry helps challenge that belief, increasing exposure to the higher margin healthcare market, and diluting exposure to the challenged North American beverage segment." (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

Ratings actions from Benzinga: https://www.benzinga.com/quote/BRY/analyst-ratings

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 18, 2024 12:04 ET (17:04 GMT)