GDS (NASDAQ:GDS) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• GDS Holdings' stock price increased significantly from $36.52 to $38.13 at opening, with the last trade at $37.28 and 209,564 shares exchanged.
• Analysts have shown a positive outlook, with upgrades from major firms including JPMorgan, raising the price target to $46.00, and a consensus rating of "Buy" with an average price target of $40.57.
• GDS reported $0.48 EPS, beating estimates of ($0.22) and showing a 3.6% revenue increase year-over-year, although overall revenue was below consensus estimates.

Shares of GDS Holdings (NASDAQ:GDS - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $36.52, but opened at $38.13. GDS shares last traded at $37.28, with a volume of 209,564 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Daiwa Capital Markets reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of GDS in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised GDS from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $34.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen raised GDS from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of GDS in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised GDS to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $40.57.

GDS Stock Down 6.3%

The business's 50 day moving average price is $30.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The company has a market cap of $6.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.37 and a beta of 0.31.

GDS (NASDAQ:GDS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.22) by $0.70. GDS had a net margin of 39.90% and a return on equity of 0.78%. The business had revenue of $375.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($1.96) earnings per share. GDS's revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that GDS Holdings will post -0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GDS

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in GDS by 2,390.0% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 996 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 956 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of GDS during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of GDS in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in GDS during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its holdings in GDS by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 25,648 shares of the company's stock valued at $784,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.71% of the company's stock.

About GDS

GDS Holdings Limited, together with its subsidiaries, develops and operates data centers in the People's Republic of China. The company provides colocation services comprising critical facilities space, customer-available power, racks, and cooling; managed hosting services, including business continuity and disaster recovery, network management, data storage, system security, operating system, database, and server middleware services; managed cloud services; and consulting services.