Celestica (NYSE:CLS) Stock Price Up 7.8% Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Celestica shares jumped 7.8% to about $353.90 after RBC raised its price target from $440 to $450 while maintaining an outperform rating.
• Analyst sentiment remains strongly positive: Celestica has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $437, with several firms recently increasing their targets.
• The latest quarter exceeded expectations, with EPS of $2.54 versus $2.29 expected and revenue of $4.68 billion, up 62.4% year over year; strong AI infrastructure demand is supporting the company’s growth outlook.

Shares of Celestica, Inc. (NYSE:CLS - Get Free Report) TSE: CLS shot up 7.8% on Thursday after Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $440.00 to $450.00. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Celestica traded as high as $357.97 and last traded at $353.9010. Approximately 3,477,127 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 45% from the average session volume of 2,404,688 shares. The stock had previously closed at $328.43.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $500.00 target price on shares of Celestica in a research report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of Celestica from $425.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Celestica from $445.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Celestica from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Celestica from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Celestica presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $437.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celestica

In other news, CEO Robert Mionis sold 18,176 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.17, for a total transaction of $7,000,849.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 60,384 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,258,105.28. The trade was a 23.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael Max Wilson sold 4,168 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.31, for a total value of $1,389,236.08. Following the sale, the director owned 24,718 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,238,756.58. This represents a 14.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 161,168 shares of company stock valued at $63,190,485. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Celestica

Here are the key news stories impacting Celestica this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong earnings beat: Celestica reported second-quarter EPS of $2.54, ahead of the $2.29 consensus, while revenue reached $4.68 billion versus expectations of $4.30 billion. Revenue increased 62.4% year over year, reinforcing the company’s growth momentum. Celestica Shares Up 9.6% on Earnings Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Higher outlook and improving visibility: Management raised its 2026 outlook, citing strong AI infrastructure demand, networking programs and better customer visibility. The earnings call also pointed to potentially faster growth and margin expansion in 2027. Celestica Q2 Earnings Call Points to Faster Growth in 2027
• Positive Sentiment: AI exposure remains the key catalyst: Celestica is benefiting from increasing cloud spending on AI networking, storage and computing, which is expanding demand for its higher-value electronics manufacturing and technology solutions. CLS Shows How AI Networking is Reshaping Electronics Manufacturing
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: JPMorgan raised its price target to $485 and RBC increased its target to $450; both firms maintain bullish ratings. Market commentary also highlights CLS as a leading AI-focused EMS stock with further potential upside after its pullback. Buy 2 Top-Ranked Beaten-Down AI-Led EMS Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation is the main concern: Analysts are questioning whether continued earnings growth and execution can justify Celestica’s substantially richer valuation after its sharp rally. Brokerage recommendations remain favorable, but such ratings can be overly optimistic. Is CLS Stock Still Worth Buying After Another Strong Earnings Beat?

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Celestica by 5,806,149.2% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,657,937 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,081,323,000 after purchasing an additional 3,657,874 shares in the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP acquired a new stake in Celestica in the third quarter valued at approximately $424,459,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Celestica in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $456,511,000. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Celestica during the fourth quarter worth $315,497,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Celestica by 24.8% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,017,623 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,187,650,000 after buying an additional 798,782 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.38% of the company's stock.

Celestica Stock Up 7.8%

The firm's fifty day moving average price is $361.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $333.18. The company has a market capitalization of $40.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 2.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Celestica (NYSE:CLS - Get Free Report) TSE: CLS last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The technology company reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $4.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.30 billion. Celestica had a return on equity of 39.96% and a net margin of 7.16%.Celestica's revenue was up 62.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.39 EPS. Celestica has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.300-11.300 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.880-3.080 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Celestica, Inc. will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Celestica

Celestica Inc is a multinational electronics manufacturing services (EMS) company that provides design, engineering, manufacturing and supply chain solutions to original equipment manufacturers across a range of industries. Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Celestica works with customers to develop and produce complex electronic and electro-mechanical products, integrating activities from product design and prototyping through high-volume assembly, testing and final system integration.

The company's service offering typically includes product engineering and design support, printed circuit board assembly, box-build and systems assembly, automated test and inspection, aftermarket repair and refurbishment, and end-to-end supply chain and logistics management.

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