Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) Upgraded to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Plexus to “Buy” from “Hold.” MarketBeat reports an overall “Buy” consensus, with an average price target of $276.86, although analyst opinions remain mixed.
• Plexus exceeded quarterly expectations with $2.84 in adjusted EPS and $1.43 billion in revenue, while revenue increased 34.9% year over year. Management also provided first-quarter guidance above consensus estimates and reported strong new-program wins.
• Potential risks include lower near-term operating-margin guidance, negative fiscal-year free cash flow of $28.9 million, customer concentration, and recent insider selling. Institutional investors own approximately 94.45% of the company.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Plexus from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Plexus in a report on Friday, August 14th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Plexus from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Sidoti raised shares of Plexus from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $308.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Plexus from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $300.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, September 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Plexus has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $276.86.

Plexus Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PLXS opened at $207.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.43. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $246.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $239.44. Plexus has a one year low of $132.03 and a one year high of $307.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.03 and a beta of 0.88.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.29. Plexus had a return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 4.08%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.14 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 34.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Plexus will post 8.55 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Todd Kelsey sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.16, for a total value of $358,740.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 62,888 shares in the company, valued at $15,040,294.08. This represents a 2.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Karen Rapp sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.87, for a total transaction of $120,435.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,535 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,814,955.45. This trade represents a 6.22% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,000 shares of company stock worth $2,319,260. 1.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Trust Point Inc. lifted its position in Plexus by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 1,308 shares of the technology company's stock worth $393,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Plexus by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 4,536 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,184,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Plexus by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,765 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $461,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Plexus by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 1,858 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Plexus in the second quarter worth $32,000. 94.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Plexus News

Here are the key news stories impacting Plexus this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Plexus reported record fiscal 2026 revenue of $4.965 billion, up 23% year over year. Fourth-quarter revenue reached $1.427 billion, while adjusted EPS of $2.84 exceeded estimates near $2.55-$2.57. Plexus Announces Fiscal Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2026 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Management issued fiscal first-quarter 2027 adjusted EPS guidance of $2.46-$2.62, above the $2.34 consensus, and revenue guidance of $1.41-$1.46 billion, modestly ahead of the $1.4 billion estimate. Plexus Provides Earnings Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: The company won 36 manufacturing programs representing $290 million in annualized revenue at full ramp, expanded its qualified opportunity funnel to $4.9 billion, and raised its long-term non-GAAP operating-margin goal to 6.5%-7.0%.
• Positive Sentiment: Plexus authorized a new $100 million fiscal 2027 share-repurchase program after buying back $85 million of stock during fiscal 2026. It also expects at least $100 million of free cash flow in fiscal 2027.
• Neutral Sentiment: The stock’s decline appears to reflect profit-taking and elevated expectations after a substantial prior rally; the strong quarter and guidance were not enough to produce a positive reaction.
• Negative Sentiment: Adjusted operating-margin guidance of 6.0%-6.4% for the first quarter is below the 6.7% achieved in the latest quarter, potentially raising concerns about near-term margin normalization.
• Negative Sentiment: Fiscal-year free cash flow was negative $28.9 million because heavy investment and working-capital needs outweighed operating cash generation. The top 10 customers also represented 54% of fiscal-year revenue, increasing concentration risk.

Plexus Company Profile

Plexus Corp. is an electronics manufacturing services company that helps customers design, develop, manufacture and service complex electronic products. The company provides an integrated product-realization process spanning engineering and design, supply-chain management, manufacturing, testing, logistics and aftermarket services.

Plexus supports original equipment manufacturers in industries including healthcare and life sciences, industrial and commercial, aerospace and defense, and communications.

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