BUZZ-Reddit nears fresh record after Raymond James boosts PT by 33%

Shares of social media firm Reddit RDDT.N up 4.6% at $183.41 on Tues, heading for fresh record close, after Raymond James hikes PT by $50 to $200

RDDT shares had set record closing high of $179.49 on Jan 6; stock also achieved intra-day record of $187.69 in that session

Raymond James reiterates 'strong buy' rating, citing conviction in co's scaling international presence, and potentially attracting more advertisers due to improved awareness/attractive ROAS (return on ad spend)

Co has opportunity to add thousands more advertisers, which over time should be able to double the advertiser base and "substantially help close the ad relevance gap," Raymond James wrote in internet sector note

Reddit reported its first qtrly profit in Q3, helped by its AI content licensing deals and strong digital ad spending

San Francisco-based firm due to release Q4 results on Feb 12, after market close

Of 19 brokerages covering RDDT, recommendation breakdown is 14 "strong buy" or "buy", 4 "hold" and 1"strong sell", according to LSEG data

M edian PT of $180 up from $160 a month ago and from $70 on Oct 21

Reddit, the microblogging platform behind the popular WallStreetBets forum, went public last Mar in IPO priced at $34

(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)

((lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))