Nomura has maintained its buy rating and 2,800p target price for oil giant Royal Dutch Shell ahead of its fourth quarter results on Thursday.

"Recent relative underperformance warrants revisit...We do not believe there is a fundamental change in Shell's position within Big Oil," said analyst Theepan Jothilingam.

The broker believes that 2012 provides Shell with an opportunity to add significant light oil to its portfolio through drilling in the Arctic, South America and the Gulf of Mexico.

Nomura has maintained its buy rating and 1,000p target price for pay-TV and broadband supplier British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) after yesterday's results showed strong growth in products and higher-than-expected earnings.

Nomura says that despite new initiates and weakness in some high-margin revenues streams (such as pubs and advertising), it still expects EBITA to come in at £1.2bn for the full-year.

"To enjoy a re-rating, Sky must, in our view, secure the football rights for the next three seasons, which we expect it to do. This uncertainty has been the primary driver of recent weakness," the broker said.

Credit Suisse has reiterated its outperform rating and 2,350p target for pharmaceuticals giant Shire ahead of its full-year results due next week.

The broker says that Shire is positioned to deliver the "best sales and earnings growth over the next five years versus the EU speciality pharma peer group".

Catalysts for the stock include the May 2012 US approval of Replagal, its enzyme replacement therapy for Fabry disease, and the timing of additional manufacturing capacity for both Shire and Sanofi.

BC

Related share prices
British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) share price
Shire Plc (SHP) share price
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) share price