Amplifon extends its winning streak; Equita says now is the time to buy

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Equita’s ‘buy’ recommendation boosts Amplifon on the Milan Stock Exchange, where the company’s shares rose by around four points, breaking through the €10 mark and confirming the previous day’s gains. In a report on the hearing aid sector, entitled “Good vibrations”, SIM has upgraded the Italian group by raising its rating to “buy” from the previous “hold” and its target price to 14 euros from 12.

According to Equita, Amplifon has a strong competitive position, synergies with Gn Hearing are within reach and the shares are trading at a substantial discount. In general, the report states, the sector “has seen two consecutive years of modest performance in 2024 and 2025” and, at the start of 2026, Amplifon, Demant and Sonova all indicated that the outlook remained subdued. First-quarter results, however, were better than expected, and the companies reported a solid start to the second quarter, suggesting potential upward revisions to the full-year outlook.

For this reason, Equita considers it ‘appropriate to adopt a more constructive stance towards the sector’. As for Amplifon, according to the experts, Gn Hearing’s market share ‘will increase considerably’ and net synergies of 60–80 million appear well within reach. Furthermore, the valuation is “extremely attractive”, given that the shares are trading at 6.4 times expected EBITDA for 2027, representing a discount of around 40 per cent compared with competitors (Sonova and Demant have a multiple of around 10.5). Equita has also initiated coverage on Demant (-0.43% in Copenhagen) with a ‘hold’ rating and confirmed the same recommendation for Sonova (+0.61% in Zurich).