Despite Missing Targets, Analyst Still Likes ValueClick (VCLK)

Stephens analyst Carter Malloy reiterated his Overweight/Volatile rating of ValueClick, Inc. (Nasdaq: VCLK).

Although ValueClick failed to meet the Wall Street consensus with its 4th quarter 2009 revenue, its "high quality" businesses (Display, Affiliate and Technology) beat expectations. The company announced the divestiture of its promotional lead generation business, which had a negative impact on ValueClick's financial results and the way the company was perceived.

"We continue to believe that ValueClick will be a long-term beneficiary of strong growth in Internet advertising and that the stock is significantly undervalued at 4.3x EV/10E EBITDA. We reiterate our Overweight/Volatile rating and 12-month price target of $14, which provides investors with ~45% upside from current levels and is based on a very reasonable 7x EV/10E EBITDA," wrote Malloy.

The stock closed at $9.59, up slightly for the day, and continued upwards in after hours trading.