Berenberg starts Raspberry Pi at 'hold', citing mixed risk‑reward

(Sharecast News) - Analysts at Berenberg initiated coverage of Raspberry Pi with a 'hold' recommendation and 670p target price on Wednesday, saying the group's long‑term growth potential was clear but balanced by structural risks, forecasting challenges and near‑term margin uncertainty. Berenberg said Raspberry Pi had evolved from a low‑cost computing supplier for education and hobbyists into an international provider across industrial and embedded markets, supported by an expanding product set and broader go‑to‑market strategy. It highlighted multiple high‑growth end‑markets - including AI and IoT - where the company could deepen penetration and lift gross‑profit participation.

However, Berenberg cautioned that Raspberry Pi's fragmented customer base, limited disclosures and complex sales structure made forecasting difficult for investors and the company itself. Competition across the computing and embedded‑systems landscape, including the risk of customers developing in‑house alternatives at scale, also posed challenges to order growth and OEM penetration.

Berenberg noted that Raspberry Pi's recent push into semiconductors, describing the segment as a potentially meaningful future revenue driver given a large addressable market and favourable industry trends. However, with semiconductors currently contributing only around 1% of revenue and average selling prices near $0.50, Berenberg said significant volumes and substantial capex would be required to scale the business. Free cash flow remains negative and was expected to stay under pressure in the short term.

The German bank also flagged memory costs as a key uncertainty, noting that while Raspberry Pi had managed record‑high industry prices well so far, it said the depletion of low‑cost inventory and ongoing shortages could weigh on margins and test demand resilience.

Following the recent pullback in semiconductor‑related equities, Berenberg said Raspberry Pi now sat closer to fair value, with its reverse‑discounted cash flow implying the market was pricing in revenue growth of more than 20% a year over the medium to long term.











Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com