Blend Labs (NYSE:BLND) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Key Points

• Blend Labs shares experienced a significant gap down opening at $3.15 following weak earnings, trading at $2.89 later in the day, after missing EPS and revenue expectations.
• Analysts have revised their price targets, with some lowering it from $6.00 to $5.00, while others maintain a "buy" rating and a target price between $4.80 and $7.00.
• Insider trading activity was noteworthy, with key insiders selling a total of 224,850 shares in the last quarter, representing a decrease in their positions.

Blend Labs, Inc. (NYSE:BLND - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $3.57, but opened at $3.15. Blend Labs shares last traded at $2.89, with a volume of 2,095,405 shares changing hands.

The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $31.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.93 million.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Blend Labs from $4.00 to $3.75 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Blend Labs from $5.60 to $4.80 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Blend Labs from $6.00 to $5.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of Blend Labs in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Blend Labs from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blend Labs has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $4.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blend Labs

In related news, insider Brian Kneafsey sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.63, for a total value of $90,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 721,598 shares in the company, valued at $2,619,400.74. The trade was a 3.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Nima Ghamsari sold 75,720 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.30, for a total transaction of $249,876.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 6,065,937 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,017,592.10. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 224,850 shares of company stock valued at $763,164. Company insiders own 35.52% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blend Labs

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLND. Lightspeed Management Company L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Blend Labs during the fourth quarter worth $97,366,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blend Labs by 4.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,586,601 shares of the company's stock worth $58,915,000 after buying an additional 775,091 shares in the last quarter. ShawSpring Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blend Labs by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. ShawSpring Partners LLC now owns 7,079,165 shares of the company's stock worth $29,803,000 after buying an additional 449,175 shares in the last quarter. Metavasi Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Blend Labs by 15.6% during the first quarter. Metavasi Capital LP now owns 5,554,101 shares of the company's stock worth $18,606,000 after buying an additional 750,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whitebark Investors LP grew its holdings in shares of Blend Labs by 4.6% during the second quarter. Whitebark Investors LP now owns 4,853,883 shares of the company's stock worth $16,018,000 after buying an additional 214,609 shares in the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blend Labs Price Performance

The stock's fifty day moving average price is $3.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $3.49. The firm has a market cap of $703.68 million, a PE ratio of -18.07 and a beta of 1.24.

Blend Labs Company Profile

Blend Labs, Inc engages in the provision of cloud-based software platform solutions for financial services firms in the United States. It operates in two segments, Blend Platform and Title365. The company's Blend Builder Platform offers a suite of products that powers digital-first consumer journeys for mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, vehicle loans, personal loans, credit cards, and deposit accounts; and offers mortgage products to facilitate the homeownership journey for consumers comprising close, income verification for mortgage, homeowners' insurance, and realty.