Backblaze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLZE) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus: Eight of ten analysts rate Backblaze a buy, while one recommends holding and one recommends selling. The average 12-month price target is $19.71, above the reported opening price of $13.11.
• Backblaze exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.08 in EPS versus the $0.02 consensus estimate and revenue of $42.71 million versus $39.94 million expected. However, the company remains unprofitable, with a negative 13.07% net margin.
• Institutional ownership is substantial at 54.03%, with several investment firms increasing their positions and AWM Investment Company establishing a new $22.2 million stake. The CEO and CFO also sold shares to cover tax withholding obligations tied to equity awards.

Shares of Backblaze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLZE - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the ten analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $19.7143.

Several analysts have issued reports on BLZE shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Backblaze in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Backblaze from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Lake Street Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of Backblaze in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. B. Riley Financial upped their price target on Backblaze from $16.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Backblaze in a research report on Monday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Backblaze

In other news, CFO Marc Suidan sold 2,110 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.82, for a total value of $33,380.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 349,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,529,374.76. This trade represents a 0.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Gleb Budman sold 12,855 shares of Backblaze stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.82, for a total value of $203,366.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,192,103 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,679,069.46. The trade was a 0.58% 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. 4.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Backblaze by 152.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 517,586 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,785,000 after acquiring an additional 312,459 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Backblaze by 44.6% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,172,657 shares of the company's stock worth $4,046,000 after acquiring an additional 361,905 shares during the period. AWM Investment Company Inc. bought a new stake in Backblaze in the 2nd quarter valued at about $22,207,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Backblaze by 56.0% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 300,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 107,876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Backblaze during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,074,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.03% of the company's stock.

Backblaze Price Performance

Shares of BLZE stock opened at $13.11 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $15.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.70. The firm has a market cap of $811.51 million, a P/E ratio of -38.56 and a beta of 1.56. Backblaze has a 1-year low of $3.26 and a 1-year high of $23.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Backblaze (NASDAQ:BLZE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.06. Backblaze had a negative net margin of 13.07% and a negative return on equity of 16.73%. The business had revenue of $42.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.94 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Backblaze will post -0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Backblaze Company Profile

Backblaze, Inc provides cloud storage and data backup services for businesses, developers and individual users. Its platform is designed to help customers store, protect, manage and recover data through scalable cloud-based infrastructure.

The company's principal offerings include Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage, an object-storage service used for applications, content distribution, backup, archiving and disaster recovery, and Backblaze Computer Backup, which helps individuals and organizations back up data from computers.

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