The Mexican stock market is in rare form this year. The S & P/BM IPC index, the country’s stock market benchmark, is up more than 9% in 2023. The iShares MSCI Mexico ETF (EWW) is doing even better, surging more than 22% in that time. Mexican stocks have gotten a boost from nearshoring, or companies bringing supply chains closer to their home country, as well as economic spillover from the U.S. The U.S. economy has been resilient even as the Federal Reserve raises rates. This benefits Mexico because the U.S. is its largest trade partner. Given this backdrop, Goldman Sachs highlighted telecom giant Grupo Televisa as a stock that can outperform going forward. TV YTD mountain TV in 2023 Goldman this week initiated Televisa with a buy rating and a price target of $6.10 per share on its U.S.-listed shares. That implies 25% upside from Friday’s close. The stock has lagged the broader Mexican market, with U.S.-listed shares rising just 7% year to date. However, analyst Vitor Tomita said risks of higher competition and the company’s leverage toward Mexican-American media company Univision have already been priced in. Televisa owns a 45% stake in Univision. “All in, we see upside to consensus margins for the telecom business (consolidated into financials) and believe current valuation understates the value of TV’s media business,” Tomita said. The analyst added he expects a “noticeable recovery” in cable margins for Televisa through 2024 “following atypically low margins driven by one-off enterprise sales in 2H22 and given the introduction of company-wide efficiency measures.” Tomita also issued a neutral rating to mobile network giant America Movil, citing “more-demanding valuation with limited upside to consensus estimates.” The company’s U.S.-listed shares are up about 20% in 2023. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed reporting.
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