retiredcf wrote: I figured that they would do this but I wasn't expecting a bump of close to 70%. GLTA
GMP analyst Deepak Kaushal thinks Drone Delivery Canada Corp.'s (FLT-X) partnership with Air Canada (AC-T) is a "major milestone" in the drone industry and provides the company with "multiple and significant strategic benefits."
"In our view, this is the first time we have seen a major global airline sign a commercial agreement for drone delivery," he said. "We believe this offers a significant boost to DDC's credibility with customers, regulators and investors and accelerates commercialization and growth in Canada and worldwide."
Mr. Kaushal added: "We believe Air Canada de-risks commercial revenue ramp given its existing customer relationships and market dominance, and offers added comfort to industry regulators and government. Furthermore, this frees DDC to focus on its strengths, being technology innovation and strategic development, with new commercial partners and regulators in Canada and beyond. On the latter, we believe Air Canada's involvement will boost awareness of DDC beyond Canada, and accelerate decision-making by other (non-Canadian airline) commercial prospects already in discussion, which DDC continues to be free to develop under the agreement."
Maintaining a "buy" rating, he raised his target for Drone Delivery shares to $4 from $2.38, which exceeds the $3.25 consensus.
"We believe Drone Delivery Canada has clearly entered the commercialization phase of its development," he said. " In the past year, the company achieved key milestones such as successfully completing the Transport Canada commercial pilot program in Moosonee/ Moose Factory, receiving pilot approval from Transport Canada and NAV Canada, signing the company's first commercial agreement, and now is announcing a commercial partnership with a major airline, which we believe is a first in the drone industry. We continue to see DDC as a leading technology innovator in commercial drone delivery and believe long-term investors with a tolerance for start-up risk will be well rewarded."