Benzinga | May 21, 2021 11:26AM EDT

Asana Gets Upgrade from KeyBanc Analyst: What Investors Need To Know

Asana Inc (NYSE:ASAN) is well-positioned to execute in the collaborative work management (CWM) market, which is estimated at $32 billion, according to KeyBanc Capital Markets.

The Asana Analyst: Steve Enders upgraded the rating for Asana from Sector Weight to Overweight, while keeping the price target unchanged at $40.

The Asana Thesis: The top three public platforms have penetrated about 5% of the global knowledge worker seat opportunity, estimated at over 1.7 billion, Enders said in the upgrade note.

"We continue to see a large and secular opportunity across collaboration software for platforms that increase team productivity as work becomes more distributed in hybrid office environments," he added.

"Following recent sales and marketing investments over the past couple of years, we have increased confidence in Asana's ability to execute on these investments effectively with data suggesting marketing investments are beginning to drive an inflection in top of funnel activity," the analyst wrote.

A recently launched channel program is expected to drive increased adoption in "larger mid-market and enterprise opportunities," he noted.

ASAN Price Action: Shares of Asana had risen by 4.69% to $34.62 at the time of publication Friday morning.