AEye (NASDAQ:LIDR) Coverage Initiated at Craig Hallum

Key Points

• Craig Hallum initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $3.50 price target, implying roughly a 57% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Weiss Ratings reiterated a "Sell (D-)", the consensus is a "Hold" (two Buys, one Sell), and the average price target is $4.75.
• Shares jumped about 23% to open at $2.23; AEye has a market cap near $101M, a negative EPS (but a slight quarterly beat), a 12‑month range of $0.50–$6.44, and institutional ownership around 21.6%.

Craig Hallum assumed coverage on shares of AEye (NASDAQ:LIDR - Get Free Report) in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage set a "buy" rating and a $3.50 price target on the stock. Craig Hallum's target price points to a potential upside of 57.16% from the company's previous close.

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of AEye in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $4.75.

AEye Trading Up 23.0%

Shares of LIDR opened at $2.23 on Friday. AEye has a 12 month low of $0.50 and a 12 month high of $6.44. The company has a market cap of $100.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.20 and a beta of 2.87. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $1.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2.12.

AEye (NASDAQ:LIDR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 16th. The company reported ($0.17) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.01. AEye had a negative return on equity of 64.69% and a negative net margin of 14,574.25%.The firm had revenue of $0.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $0.08 million.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AEye

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AEye by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 108,323 shares of the company's stock valued at $112,000 after buying an additional 6,873 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AEye in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,026,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AEye by 819.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 676,840 shares of the company's stock worth $1,685,000 after acquiring an additional 603,241 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of AEye by 657.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 307,696 shares of the company's stock worth $766,000 after purchasing an additional 267,075 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in AEye in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.58% of the company's stock.

About AEye

AEye, Inc is a technology company specializing in adaptive LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) systems designed to support advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), autonomous vehicles and other sensing applications. Through its intelligent detection and ranging (iDAR) platform, AEye integrates high-performance sensors with real-time data processing software to deliver customizable sensing ‘pipelines' that prioritize relevant objects and environmental features. This approach enables longer detection ranges, higher resolution imagery and dynamic field-of-view adjustment, making AEye's offerings well suited for complex driving environments and safety-critical scenarios.

The company's core product suite centers on solid-state and hybrid LiDAR sensors that can be configured for a variety of end uses, including passenger vehicles, commercial trucks, robotics, mapping and defense.

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