The Airtasker Ltd (ASX: ART) share price was a positive performer on Monday.
At one stage today, the local jobs marketplace provider's shares were up 5% to $1.20.
When the Airtasker share price reached that level, it meant it was up 85% from its March IPO listing price of 65 cents.
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Why did the Airtasker share price charge higher?
With no news out of the company, today's gain appears to have been driven by a bullish broker note out of Morgans this morning.
According to the note, the broker has upgraded the company's shares from a neutral rating to an add rating with an improved price target of $1.29.
Based on its Friday's close, this implied potential upside of just over 13% for the Airtasker share price over the next 12 months.
Why did Morgans upgrade its shares?
Morgans made the move largely on the surprisingly strong progress the company is making in the UK and US markets.
In respect to the latter, the broker notes that there are positive signs of traction in the US market, with tangible evidence of demand picking up. For example, Morgans estimates that there was an average of 225 tasks posted weekly last month across its US business. This was despite Airtasker not spending money on advertising in the lucrative market.
In light of this, it appears pleased with the company's decision to acquire the US-based Zaarly business recently.
With established operations and user bases in two US cities, the broker believes Zaarly will support the development of a US marketplace.
Is anyone else positive on Airtasker?
As my colleague revealed here last month, the Firetrail Small Companies Fund is also positive on Airtasker.
Firetrail's equity analyst, Eleanor Swanson, commented on LiveWire: "Users create their own unique tasks and communicate the requirements directly to taskers. The flexibility is valued by both customers and taskers, reflected by the fact that a new task is posted on Airtasker every 17 seconds. In addition, the company is now the number 1 employer of platform workers in Australia, ahead of even Uber!"
"The company aims to reach over 80% brand awareness within the next 2 years. Heightened brand awareness will drive increased market penetration and growth in total transaction value on the marketplace," she added.
Swanson also highlighted the company's huge market opportunity globally, which is estimated to be worth $643 billion.
