Venture Global (VG.US) is facing legal battles and customer cancellations, despite major banks calling for "buy"

Global(VG.US), a major natural gas exporter, saw its stock price climb to a one-week high on Tuesday as several brokerages initiated coverage on the stock and gave it positive outlooks despite its lackluster debut on the New York Stock Exchange on January 24, opening at $24.05 and valuing the company at $58.2 billion.

According to the latest data, Venture Global's stock price rose 6.08% to close at $16.93 on Tuesday. Despite being a major supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG), the company's stock has failed to surpass its IPO price of $25 and has instead fallen over 30% since its market debut. This decline is largely attributed to investor and analyst concerns over its long-term profitability prospects and ongoing legal disputes with BP (BP.US) and Shell (SHEL.US).

With the end of the brokerages' mandatory quiet period, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Royal Bank of Canada, Guggenheim, and Scotiabank began reporting on the stock. Morgan Stanley's analysts have a "buy" view on Venture Global, citing its "design one, build many" strategy as disruptive, allowing it to enter the market quickly and cost-effectively, while competitors face multiple challenges such as project delays and cost increases.

Guggenheim initially gave Venture Global a "buy" rating, noting that it could become the world's largest LNG producer due to the government's policy adjustments supporting the energy sector and growing demand for natural gas in Europe and Asia. However, Citigroup maintained a "neutral" rating and warned that the increase in global LNG supply could erode the company's competitive advantage and put pressure on its profit margins.

Moreover, Venture Global recently faced a setback from Total (TTE.US), which rejected its proposal to become a long-term customer for its U.S. LNG terminals. These events undoubtedly add uncertainty to Venture Global's future development and could potentially lead to volatility in its stock price in the future.