Joyy upgraded to Buy at Benchmark after revised YY Live deal

As previously reported, Benchmark upgraded Joyy (YY) to Buy from Hold with a $63 price target after the company announced that it has finalized agreements with Baidu (BIDU) to close the sale of YY Live for a revised purchase price of $2.1B in cash. The firm believes this announcement has effectively removed the uncertainty surrounding the potential deal collapse and mitigated downside risks to the company’s net cash position, adding that it now sees a cleaner balance sheet with net cash of $60 per share. The firm expects Joyy management to increase capital returns to shareholders, the analyst tells investors.