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Cloud And AI Adoption Will Expand Global Connectivity

Published
10 Mar 25
Updated
28 Nov 25
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AnalystConsensusTarget's Fair Value
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1Y
84.3%
7D
4.6%

Author's Valuation

AU$16.5615.2% undervalued intrinsic discount

AnalystConsensusTarget Fair Value

Last Update 28 Nov 25

Fair value Increased 4.60%

MP1: India Expansion Will Drive Market Opportunity Following Recent Acquisition

Megaport's analyst price target has risen from A$15.83 to A$16.56. Analysts cite the company's recent acquisition and improved growth outlook as key drivers behind the higher valuation.

Analyst Commentary

Bullish Takeaways
  • Bullish analysts highlight Megaport's recent acquisition, emphasizing its potential to materially expand the company’s total addressable market, particularly with accelerated entry into the Indian market.
  • The acquisition price and upfront consideration are seen as reasonable relative to expected returns, with analysts noting the headline price places the deal at an attractive multiple.
  • Improved revenue growth outlook and payback period for capital expenditure are considered favorable, supporting a positive adjustment in growth forecasts and higher price targets.
  • Analysts expect the integration of the acquisition to enhance Megaport’s growth profile and offer cross-selling opportunities across its newly expanded platform.

What's in the News

  • Megaport Limited completed a follow-on equity offering and raised AUD 200 million through the issuance of 13,986,014 ordinary shares at AUD 14.3 per share. The offering included a subsequent direct listing. (Key Developments)
  • The company also filed for a separate follow-on equity offering of 1,398,601 ordinary shares. (Key Developments)
  • SharonAI Inc. announced a collaboration with Megaport to accelerate go-to-market strategies. This partnership will enable enterprise, government, and research customers across more than 1,000 data centers in 26 countries to privately connect to the SHARON AI Cloud using Megaport's network. (Key Developments)

Valuation Changes

  • The Fair Value Estimate has increased from A$15.83 to A$16.56, reflecting a higher company valuation.
  • The Discount Rate has decreased slightly from 8.50% to 8.49%, suggesting a marginally lower risk profile assigned by analysts.
  • The Revenue Growth Forecast has increased significantly from 22.45% to 33.43%, indicating expectations of much stronger top-line expansion.
  • The Net Profit Margin Estimate has improved from 5.79% to 10.37%, pointing to stronger anticipated profitability.
  • The Future Price/Earnings Ratio has dropped substantially from 135.6x to 61.2x, suggesting the stock is expected to trade at a lower multiple relative to future earnings.

Key Takeaways

  • Expansion into new markets and advanced services enhances customer retention, market reach, and positions Megaport for sustained revenue and margin growth.
  • Investment in automation, innovation, and engineering builds competitive barriers and operational efficiency, supporting long-term profitability and predictable earnings.
  • Increasing vertical integration and competition, combined with industry shifts and capital intensity, threaten Megaport's margins, market differentiation, and long-term revenue stability.

Catalysts

About Megaport
    Provides on-demand interconnection services in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, the United States of America, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil, and Europe.
What are the underlying business or industry changes driving this perspective?
  • Megaport is positioned to benefit from the accelerated adoption of cloud, AI, and data-centric digital transformation, driving strong demand for agile, scalable interconnection and networking solutions-a catalyst for ongoing annual recurring revenue (ARR) and top-line revenue growth.
  • The rapid geographic and product expansion-such as the addition of 115 new data centers and numerous new on-ramps and services (Internet, Global WAN, Security)-substantially increases Megaport's addressable market and depth with existing clients, supporting both ARR expansion and higher customer stickiness; this sets up outperformance in revenue and long-term gross margins.
  • Heavy upfront investment in go-to-market and engineering capabilities, particularly in the US and key growth markets, is likely to yield significant operating leverage over the next 18-24 months as these investments mature, enabling revenue growth to outpace cost increases and drive EBITDA margin expansion.
  • Continued platform automation, software-defined networking innovation, and deepening ecosystem integration improve scalability, operational efficiency, and customer experience-enhancing net margin potential and strengthening competitive barriers, especially as customers demand more self-service, high-speed, and resilient global connections.
  • Significant growth in high-value enterprise clients (large customers +18% YoY, higher ARPU, record ARR "lands") and broadening of product offerings (e.g., security, Virtual Edge, NAT Gateway) directly increase customer lifetime value, reduce churn, and support sustained improvements in both revenue trajectory and earnings predictability.

Megaport Earnings and Revenue Growth

Megaport Future Earnings and Revenue Growth

Assumptions

How have these above catalysts been quantified?
  • Analysts are assuming Megaport's revenue will grow by 18.2% annually over the next 3 years.
  • Analysts assume that profit margins will increase from -0.1% today to 6.7% in 3 years time.
  • Analysts expect earnings to reach A$25.1 million (and earnings per share of A$0.24) by about September 2028, up from A$-292.0 thousand today. However, there is a considerable amount of disagreement amongst the analysts with the most bullish expecting A$58.3 million in earnings, and the most bearish expecting A$-9.0 million.
  • In order for the above numbers to justify the analysts price target, the company would need to trade at a PE ratio of 124.2x on those 2028 earnings, up from -8254.4x today. This future PE is greater than the current PE for the AU IT industry at 37.6x.
  • Analysts expect the number of shares outstanding to grow by 0.28% per year for the next 3 years.
  • To value all of this in today's terms, we will use a discount rate of 8.26%, as per the Simply Wall St company report.

Megaport Future Earnings Per Share Growth

Megaport Future Earnings Per Share Growth

Risks

What could happen that would invalidate this narrative?
  • Hyperscaler cloud vendors (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) may further vertically integrate core connectivity offerings, bypassing and commoditizing independent providers like Megaport-eroding market access, pricing power, and putting long-term revenue growth at risk.
  • Intensified competition from large interconnection operators (e.g., Equinix, Digital Realty) and cloud-native alternatives could drive sustained pricing pressure, lower gross margins, and restrict Megaport's ability to maintain or expand both top-line revenue and net margins over time.
  • The company's model is highly capital-intensive and dependent on aggressive investment in network expansion, engineering, and go-to-market; if anticipated returns from these investments take longer than expected-or secular industry growth slows-Megaport risks overextending, resulting in declining free cash flow and profitability pressure.
  • Ongoing customer concentration in major tech and cloud sectors combined with potential shifts toward data localization or sovereign data laws may fragment global connectivity requirements, constraining Megaport's addressable market and introducing volatility in recurring revenue.
  • Rapid advances in open-source networking solutions and automation may accelerate service commoditization, decreasing customer switching costs and forcing further margin compression, which could negatively impact long-term earnings growth and market differentiation.

Valuation

How have all the factors above been brought together to estimate a fair value?
  • The analysts have a consensus price target of A$15.172 for Megaport based on their expectations of its future earnings growth, profit margins and other risk factors. However, there is a degree of disagreement amongst analysts, with the most bullish reporting a price target of A$19.09, and the most bearish reporting a price target of just A$11.0.
  • In order for you to agree with the analyst's consensus, you'd need to believe that by 2028, revenues will be A$374.8 million, earnings will come to A$25.1 million, and it would be trading on a PE ratio of 124.2x, assuming you use a discount rate of 8.3%.
  • Given the current share price of A$14.99, the analyst price target of A$15.17 is 1.2% higher. The relatively low difference between the current share price and the analyst consensus price target indicates that they believe on average, the company is fairly priced.
  • We always encourage you to reach your own conclusions though. So sense check these analyst numbers against your own assumptions and expectations based on your understanding of the business and what you believe is probable.

How well do narratives help inform your perspective?

Disclaimer

AnalystConsensusTarget is a tool utilizing a Large Language Model (LLM) that ingests data on consensus price targets, forecasted revenue and earnings figures, as well as the transcripts of earnings calls to produce qualitative analysis. The narratives produced by AnalystConsensusTarget are general in nature and are based solely on analyst data and publicly-available material published by the respective companies. These scenarios are not indicative of the company's future performance and are exploratory in nature. Simply Wall St has no position in the company(s) mentioned. Simply Wall St may provide the securities issuer or related entities with website advertising services for a fee, on an arm's length basis. These relationships have no impact on the way we conduct our business, the content we host, or how our content is served to users. The price targets and estimates used are consensus data, and do not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and they do not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Note that AnalystConsensusTarget's analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

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