Fresh from announcing bumper profit growth yesterday, software-as-a-service company Aconex Ltd (ASX: ACX) shares have made a sizable decline in trading today. At the time of writing they are down over 6% to $7.29.
Today's decline is likely to be a result of a downgrade from influential global investment bank Credit Suisse. A research note this morning revealed that its analysts had held firm their price target of $7.40, but cut their recommendation on Aconex to neutral from a buy rating. Credit Suisse has cited concerns over the company's guidance as the reason for the downgrade.
According to the Australian Financial Review, CEO Leigh Jasper issued medium-term guidance of revenue growth of 20% to 25%, a gross margin between 75% and 77%, and an EBITDA margin between 11% and 16%.
Personally I think the guidance provided is strong and wouldn't at all be concerned by it. Whilst this would imply slower revenue growth than we are witnessing right now, it is still a very solid rate. Improvements to both its gross and EBITDA margins would be great to see, helping improve the overall profitability of the company in the medium term.
I'm not alone in this view. Another investment bank released a research note today with a bullish view on Aconex. Citi have reiterated its shares as a buy and upgraded their price target to $8.91, believing the unfolding growth story at Aconex is better than they expected.
Citi's price target implies potential upside of around 12% from the current share price and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the shares reach that level in the next 12 months.
Overall, I believe that Aconex is up there with Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) as one of the best tech shares on the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO). Today's sell off could be viewed as a great buying opportunity for a long-term investment in my opinion.
