Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) Earns "Buy" Rating from BTIG Research

Key Points

• BTIG Research reiterated a "Buy" on Braze with a $30 price target, implying roughly a 31% upside from the prior close.
• Braze beat revenue expectations with $205.17M (up 27.9% YoY) but missed EPS ($0.10 vs. $0.14) and still reports negative net margin and return on equity, signaling growth alongside continued unprofitability.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive—22 Buys, 1 Hold and 1 Sell—with a consensus price target of $36.90 (a "Moderate Buy").

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating restated by research analysts at BTIG Research in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $30.00 price objective on the stock. BTIG Research's price target suggests a potential upside of 31.18% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of Braze in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Braze from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $38.00 target price on shares of Braze in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Citigroup cut their target price on Braze from $53.00 to $46.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Braze from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.90.

Braze Price Performance

BRZE opened at $22.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.75 and a beta of 0.89. Braze has a 1-year low of $15.26 and a 1-year high of $37.67. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $19.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.55.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 24th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $205.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $198.23 million. Braze had a negative return on equity of 18.75% and a negative net margin of 17.78%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Braze will post -0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Braze news, General Counsel Susan Wiseman sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.29, for a total value of $710,150.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 209,424 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,249,212.96. This represents a 14.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Astha Malik sold 14,049 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.93, for a total value of $237,849.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 205,289 shares in the company, valued at $3,475,542.77. This represents a 6.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 95,676 shares of company stock valued at $1,737,811 in the last three months. Insiders own 18.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Braze

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRZE. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its stake in shares of Braze by 592.4% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,105,024 shares of the company's stock worth $72,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,801,019 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Braze by 443.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,404,395 shares of the company's stock worth $39,941,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145,748 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Braze by 421.1% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,279,678 shares of the company's stock worth $36,394,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034,087 shares during the last quarter. Battery Management CORP. increased its stake in shares of Braze by 70.2% in the third quarter. Battery Management CORP. now owns 2,425,000 shares of the company's stock worth $68,967,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Braze by 238.2% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,351,227 shares of the company's stock worth $38,429,000 after purchasing an additional 951,674 shares in the last quarter. 90.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Braze

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.

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