The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that National Bank Financial analyst Maxim Sytchev has reaffirmed his "sector perform" recommendation for Wajax. The Globe's David Leeder writes that Mr. Sytchev cut his share target by $2 to $22. Analysts on average target the shares at $23. Mr. Sytchev says in a note: "We are surprised to see the level of compression in the supposedly defensive IP/ERS [industrial parts/engineered repair services] businesses. When we launched coverage, our due diligence suggested a lack of differentiation vs. much larger competitors being a tough hurdle to overcome, and it feels that during slower economic times, the discrepancy becomes even more pronounced. SG&A savings were material but not enough to offset gross margin compression at the consolidated level. While seasonal/cyclical working capital free-up was better than expected, EPS/EBITDA derating appears to be unabated. While an eight times NTM [next 12-month] P/E (on uncertain 'E') does not sound bad, there are other names in our coverage that offer a much better risk/reward skew. ... Our EPS forecasts decrease reflecting higher interest expenses, commensurate with the higher interest rate borne by the company in 2024."