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Barclays analyst Jiong Shao has maintained an "Overweight" rating for KE Holdings (BEKE) but lowered the price target from $33.00 to $25.00. This adjustment reflects continued confidence in the stock's performance despite a lower price target. Analysts have made several adjustments in the past, with some upgrading and others lowering ratings and price targets. KE Holdings is a large residential real estate sales and rental brokerage company in China, with an online-offline hybrid model and commissions charged on existing-home and new-home transactions. The company has tapped into home renovation services and has co-founders and Tencent as major shareholders. The average target price for BEKE is $24.49 with a high estimate of $30.00 and a low estimate of $20.00, indicating an upside of 33.01% from the current price.

Barclays analyst Jiong Shao has maintained an "Overweight" rating for KE Holdings (BEKE), but has lowered the price target from $33.00 to $25.00. This adjustment reflects continued confidence in the stock's performance despite the lower price target. The company, valued at $21.77 billion, has demonstrated strong revenue growth of 36% over the last twelve months [1].

The price target reduction comes as China’s property market faces significant challenges, with both transaction volumes and prices deteriorating rapidly since spring. Barclays analyst Jiong Shao indicated that while the firm is largely maintaining its second-quarter estimates for KE Holdings, it has lowered projections for the third quarter and beyond. Despite the reduced price target, Barclays continues to maintain its Overweight rating on the Chinese real estate services platform.

KE Holdings operates Beike, one of China’s leading integrated online and offline platforms for housing transactions and services. The company has tapped into home renovation services and has co-founders and Tencent as major shareholders. The average target price for BEKE is $24.49 with a high estimate of $30.00 and a low estimate of $20.00, indicating an upside of 33.01% from the current price.

Recent developments have shown a mixed outlook for KE Holdings. The company reported its unaudited financial results for the first quarter of 2025, which exceeded analyst expectations. However, the company faces macroeconomic uncertainties and specific revenue challenges. Morgan Stanley adjusted its price target for KE Holdings from $27.00 to $24.00, while maintaining an Overweight rating, citing increased fixed costs and a decline in certain revenue streams. In contrast, UBS upgraded KE Holdings’ stock rating from Neutral to Buy, raising the price target to $23.00. This upgrade was based on improved margins and a significant 30% year-over-year increase in active stores in the first quarter of 2025.

KE Holdings has faced significant challenges in recent years, including legal issues and a decline in share price. The company's stock has lost 53% of its value over the past five years, resulting in a cumulative loss of 51%. Despite becoming profitable within the last few years, KE Holdings' share price has shed US$985 million in the past week alone. The company's legal troubles began in 2021 when it was accused of inflating its store and agent counts, as well as overstating its gross transaction value and revenue. These allegations led to a significant decline in KE Holdings' stock price. The company agreed to settle the case in April 2025, which is expected to provide payouts to investors who lost money due to the misrepresentations [2].

Despite these challenges, KE Holdings has shown signs of recovery. The company's revenue has increased by 6.6% annually over the past five years. Additionally, KE Holdings' total shareholder return (TSR) for the last five years was -51%, which exceeded the share price return. This indicates that dividends have played a significant role in boosting shareholder returns. However, the company's use of debt has raised concerns among investors. KE Holdings had CN¥182.0 million of debt in March 2025, down from CN¥408.4 million in March 2024. The company also has a substantial net cash position of CN¥44.5 billion. While KE Holdings' debt levels are manageable, investors should continue to monitor the company's balance sheet to ensure it remains healthy [3].

References:
[1] https://www.investing.com/news/analyst-ratings/ke-holdings-stock-price-target-lowered-to-25-from-33-at-barclays-93CH-4195015
[2] https://www.ainvest.com/news/ke-holdings-suffers-53-year-loss-985m-stock-shedding-2508/
[3] https://simplywall.st/stocks/us/real-estate-management-and-development/nyse-beke/ke-holdings/news/ke-holdings-nysebeke-seems-to-use-debt-rather-sparingly