Benzinga | Sep 23, 2021 09:39AM EDT

Barclays' Reasons For Preferring Warner Music Over Universal Music

* Barclays analyst Kannan Venkateshwar upgraded Warner Music Group Corp (NASDAQ:WMG) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $48, up from $38, implying an 11.1% Upside.

* The ongoing growth of streaming combined with new revenue sources could result in the music industry exceeding its mid-1990's peak revenues in the next five years, Venkateshwar notes.

* He believes new revenue sources can add 8% to Warner Music's sales and 15%-20% in overall EBITDA over the next two years.

* Venkateshwar prefers shares of Warner Music to Universal Music Group.

* Price Action: WMG shares traded higher by 0.28% at $43.34 on the last check Thursday.