Soft growth prospects, limited upside - Bernstein initiates Krones

** Bernstein initiates coverage of Germany's Krones KRNG.DE at "market perform", citing soft medium-term growth prospects and limited upside

** It says the bottling machinery maker's 2027 revenue and order outlook is likely to be weak as beverage producers and bottlers' spending slows down, particularly in Asia-Pacific

** Bernstein expects 2027 order growth of less than 2% y/y, which is around 4% below consensus estimates

** It also estimates Krones is likely to miss its 2028 revenue target of about €7 billion by roughly 13%

** It says shares at about 11x 2027 P/E are close to the fair value -- sets PT at €111

** The stock is down about 20% YTD and Bernstein says it's too early for a potential re-rating

** Krones slips 2.3% to €109.2

** Out of 14 analysts covering Krones, 11 rate it "strong buy" or "buy", ​two "hold" and one "strong sell"​​ -- LSEG data