FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The share price rally of Auto1 in the small cap index SDax continued on Thursday. Positive analyst comments from JPMorgan and in particular from the British bank Barclays provided a boost. In addition, the shares of the online car trading platform will be promoted to the mid-cap index, the MDax, before Christmas, as announced by Deutsche Borse on Wednesday evening. This will bring the shares back into the focus of fund companies.

Later in the morning, the shares of the online used car dealer jumped by almost 10 percent to EUR 16.09, their highest level since the beginning of February 2022. Since the beginning/mid-November, when the rally initially started somewhat hesitantly after the quarterly figures were presented and the annual profit forecast was raised again, Auto1 has now gained just over 80 percent. In the year to date, the share price gains now total around 150 percent. This means that Auto1 has overtaken the Alzchem Group in the SDax and is now the year's top gainer in the index of 70 smaller stocks below the MDax.

Auto1 has maneuvered well through a difficult phase in 2022/23, wrote analyst Andrew Ross of Barclays and upgraded the share from "Equal-weight" to "Overweight". Ross also raised the price target sharply from EUR 9 to EUR 19. The operating result (EBITDA), the net result and also the free cash flow are now positive - with an increasingly positive dynamic. With half a billion euros in net cash, the company is also well financed.

Analyst Marcus Diebel from the US bank JPMorgan highlighted Auto1 positively in an industry outlook for the coming year. If you are "hungry" for above-average share price performance, he recommends food suppliers in particular. However, Auto1 is still one of his favorites, he wrote. The expert also raised his target price for the share from EUR 17.10 to EUR 18.80 and reiterated his "overweight" recommendation. Diebel is particularly optimistic about the figures for the final quarter of 2024 and therefore awarded the shares "Positive Catalyst Watch" status for particularly good short-term share price opportunities./ck/bek/stk