Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) Earns Market Outperform Rating from Citizens Jmp

Key Points

• Citizens JMP reiterated its “Market Outperform” rating on Braze and maintained a $35 price target, implying 15.47% upside from the prior close. Analysts overall rate the stock “Moderate Buy,” with a consensus target of $38.22.
• Braze exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.19 in earnings per share versus $0.16 expected and revenue of $227.23 million, up 26.2% year over year. Management also issued fiscal 2027 earnings and revenue guidance above analyst estimates.
• Institutional ownership remains high at 90.47%, including a significant increase by the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, while insiders have sold 203,568 shares worth approximately $6.1 million over the past 90 days.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "market outperform" rating reiterated by Citizens Jmp in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Citizens Jmp's price objective indicates a potential upside of 15.47% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Braze in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Braze and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Braze from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 28th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Braze from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Braze in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.22.

Braze Stock Performance

BRZE stock opened at $30.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.06 and a beta of 0.88. The firm's fifty day moving average is $27.57 and its 200 day moving average is $23.54. Braze has a 52 week low of $15.26 and a 52 week high of $37.33.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 8th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $227.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $220.27 million. Braze had a negative net margin of 15.51% and a negative return on equity of 17.52%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.15 earnings per share. Braze has set its FY 2027 guidance at 0.640-0.650 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 0.130-0.140 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Braze will post -0.78 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Braze

In related news, CRO Edward Mcdonnell sold 29,732 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.38, for a total transaction of $932,990.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive owned 409,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,854,189.40. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Jonathan Hyman sold 42,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.47, for a total transaction of $1,363,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,143,219 shares in the company, valued at $37,120,320.93. The trade was a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 203,568 shares of company stock worth $6,096,461. 12.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Braze in the second quarter valued at $50,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in shares of Braze by 13.3% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 391,337 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,488,000 after buying an additional 46,049 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LP increased its holdings in Braze by 5.5% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 102,896 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,232,000 after buying an additional 5,360 shares during the period. Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. bought a new position in Braze in the second quarter worth approximately $325,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Braze by 1,832.1% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,019,361 shares of the company's stock worth $43,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,914,845 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.47% of the company's stock.

More Braze News

Here are the key news stories impacting Braze this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results exceeded estimates: Braze reported adjusted earnings of $0.19 per share versus the $0.16 consensus, while revenue rose 26.2% year over year to $227.23 million, above expectations of $220.27 million. Braze Reports Strong Fiscal Second Quarter 2027 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised its outlook: Fiscal 2027 EPS guidance was set at $0.64-$0.65, well above the $0.35 analyst consensus, while revenue guidance of $910 million-$913 million exceeded the $898.4 million consensus. Third-quarter EPS guidance of $0.13-$0.14 and revenue guidance of $229 million-$230 million also topped estimates. Braze Surpasses Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Improving profitability trends: Braze highlighted record second-quarter free cash flow, improving operating leverage and increasing customer adoption of its AI-powered engagement tools. These factors support the company’s longer-term growth and margin expansion story. Braze Q2 2027 Earnings Call Highlights

Braze Company Profile

Braze, Inc is a publicly traded software company NASDAQ: BRZE that offers a customer engagement platform designed to help brands build personalized relationships with their users. Founded in 2011 as Appboy by Bill Magnuson, Jon Hyman and Mark Ghermezian, the company adopted the Braze name in 2017 to underscore its focus on fostering strong connections between businesses and consumers. Its cloud-based platform consolidates messaging channels including push notifications, in-app messages, email and SMS, enabling companies to deliver timely, context-driven communications at scale.

The core functionality of Braze's platform centers on data-driven segmentation, customer journey orchestration and real-time analytics.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.