BUZZ-Street View-Micro Focus: analysts scramble after stock's worst-ever day

** At least 7 analysts slash PTs (Other OTC: PTSH - news) on Micro Focus after the stock's worst-ever day since listing in 2005

** The FTSE 100 component plunged 46% after its CEO quit and it cut its revenue outlook due to problems integrating assets from Hewlett Packard Enterprise

** Sharpest PT cuts: DB -70% to 780p, JPM -64% to 900p

NO EASY FIXES IN SIGHT

** Investors seem to have lost all faith in Micro Focus succeeding in its HPE software integration, says 5-star ranked Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) analyst James Goodman ("overweight")

"We underestimated the level of disruption, and more significantly we underestimated the market's tolerance for misexecution."

** Citi, in a note titled "Update Reveals Deeper Cracks; No Easy Fixes In Sight", says the scale of the issues definitely appears worse than it had previously anticipated

** What could turn the shares around? JPM says it sees very little positive catalysts in the next 6-9 months; cuts to "underweight"

"Hitting the company's 15-20% annual shareholder return becomes a tougher and tougher prospect, even over three years, and the uncertainty/volatility factor has heightened"

** Credit Suisse (IOB: 0QP5.IL - news) calls Monday sell-off "A reality shock" and upgrades stock to "neutral" from "underperform", valuing Micro Focus on current year numbers

It however says "lack of visibility deters us from being any more optimistic"

(Thyagaraju Adinarayan)