First Trust Advisors LP Grows Position in Viavi Solutions Inc. $VIAV

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP more than doubled its Viavi Solutions stake in the first quarter to 50,245 shares valued at $1.67 million. Institutional investors collectively own 95.54% of the company.
• Viavi reported quarterly EPS of $0.34, beating the $0.30 consensus, while revenue rose 52.5% year over year to $443.1 million. Management guided for fiscal Q1 2027 EPS of $0.40–$0.42 and cited data-center, aerospace and defense demand.
• Analyst sentiment remains a “Moderate Buy,” with a $49.88 consensus price target, but targets were mixed: Stifel raised its target to $65, while UBS cut its target to $44 and assigned a neutral rating.

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV - Free Report) by 104.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,245 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 25,721 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP's holdings in Viavi Solutions were worth $1,672,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Viavi Solutions during the fourth quarter worth $1,803,000. Phocas Financial Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Viavi Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at $3,772,000. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viavi Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at $1,887,000. Tensor Edge Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Viavi Solutions in the 4th quarter worth $2,673,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 109,258 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,947,000 after acquiring an additional 24,638 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.54% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VIAV has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Viavi Solutions from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Viavi Solutions from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Viavi Solutions from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. B. Riley Financial cut their price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions from $60.00 to $44.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $49.88.

Viavi Solutions Price Performance

Viavi Solutions stock opened at $39.14 on Monday. Viavi Solutions Inc. has a 1-year low of $10.30 and a 1-year high of $60.43. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $44.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -260.92 and a beta of 1.22.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.04. Viavi Solutions had a positive return on equity of 19.60% and a negative net margin of 2.00%.The company had revenue of $443.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $432.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 52.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Viavi Solutions has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.400-0.420 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Viavi Solutions Inc. will post 1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key Viavi Solutions News

Here are the key news stories impacting Viavi Solutions this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Viavi reported fiscal fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.34 per share, above the $0.30 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $443.1 million—also ahead of expectations and up 52.5% year over year. Viavi Solutions Tops Q4 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management issued fiscal first-quarter 2027 EPS guidance of $0.40 to $0.42 and is targeting a $500 million quarterly revenue run rate in calendar 2027. Growth is being supported by data-center, aerospace-and-defense demand and contributions from the Spirent portfolio. Viavi Anticipates Q1 FY2027 EPS and $500 Million Quarter
• Positive Sentiment: The earnings call highlighted expanding test opportunities tied to 1.6-terabit networking, co-packaged optics and optical switching, potentially strengthening Viavi’s exposure to AI-related data-center infrastructure. VIAVI Q4 Earnings Call Signals Data Center Strength
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains broadly constructive, with buy ratings and targets of $60 from Needham and B. Riley, $65 from Stifel and $70 from Rosenblatt, implying substantial potential upside from recent trading levels.
• Negative Sentiment: UBS lowered its target from $60 to $44 and assigned a neutral rating. Other firms also reduced their targets, suggesting concerns that the strong earnings outlook may already be reflected in the valuation. Analyst Price Target Updates
• Negative Sentiment: A valuation-focused assessment following the earnings beat may be contributing to selling pressure, particularly as Viavi continues to report a negative net margin and carries a high earnings multiple based on current results. Viavi Solutions Following Earnings Beat and Guidance

Viavi Solutions Profile

Viavi Solutions Inc is a provider of network test, monitoring and assurance solutions for communications service providers, cable operators, enterprises and government agencies. The company offers an extensive portfolio of fiber optic and copper cable test and measurement instruments, wireless network testing equipment and network performance monitoring software. Its products are designed to support the deployment, maintenance and optimization of high-speed broadband, 5G wireless, data center and enterprise networks.

Viavi's product offerings are organized into two primary segments: Network & Service Enablement and Optical Security & Performance.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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