JPMorgan Chase & Co. Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Roblox (NYSE:RBLX) Stock

Key Points

• JPMorgan raised its Roblox price target from $40 to $53 while maintaining a “neutral” rating, implying approximately 11.4% upside from the stock’s reported $47.58 price.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Roblox has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $56.96, with ratings ranging from Strong Buy to Sell.
• Roblox reported a quarterly loss of $0.26 per share, better than estimates, but revenue of $1.47 billion missed expectations and the company remained unprofitable with a negative 17.6% net margin.

Roblox (NYSE:RBLX - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $40.00 to $53.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price target would suggest a potential upside of 11.39% from the company's current price.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on RBLX. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Roblox in a report on Monday, September 21st. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Roblox from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $38.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, September 28th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Roblox from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Roblox from $30.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Roblox from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.96.

Roblox Price Performance

Shares of RBLX traded down $1.93 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $47.58. 2,911,608 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,768,897. Roblox has a 12 month low of $33.88 and a 12 month high of $141.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.82. The stock has a market cap of $31.88 billion, a PE ratio of -33.35 and a beta of 1.47. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $42.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.79.

Roblox (NYSE:RBLX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.60 billion. Roblox had a negative net margin of 17.60% and a negative return on equity of 292.85%. Roblox's revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.41) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Roblox will post -1.39 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Roblox news, CEO David Baszucki sold 52,568 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.96, for a total transaction of $1,995,481.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 799,646 shares in the company, valued at $30,354,562.16. This trade represents a 6.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Naveen Chopra sold 17,509 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.96, for a total transaction of $664,641.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 363,249 shares in the company, valued at $13,788,932.04. The trade was a 4.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 186,390 shares of company stock valued at $7,283,371 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 10.05% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Roblox

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of Roblox during the 3rd quarter valued at $424,000. Krilogy Financial LLC lifted its stake in Roblox by 29.6% in the third quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 47,093 shares of the company's stock worth $1,995,000 after purchasing an additional 10,756 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its stake in Roblox by 57.6% in the third quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 22,976 shares of the company's stock worth $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 8,393 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd lifted its stake in Roblox by 134.6% in the third quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 16,840 shares of the company's stock worth $714,000 after purchasing an additional 9,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riversedge Advisors LLC boosted its position in Roblox by 22.9% during the third quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 5,799 shares of the company's stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 1,082 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.46% of the company's stock.

Roblox Company Profile

Roblox Corporation NYSE: RBLX operates an online entertainment platform where users can create, share and experience interactive 3D content. The platform hosts user-generated games and other virtual experiences across genres, including entertainment, social activities, education and simulated environments.

Roblox provides development tools through Roblox Studio, enabling creators to build and publish experiences, digital items and other content. Users can customize avatars, interact with others and access the platform across supported computers, mobile devices, gaming consoles and virtual reality systems.

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