Needham & Company LLC Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) Stock

Key Points

• Needham & Company raised its price target on Viavi to $68 (from $53) and keeps a "buy" rating, implying roughly a 49.35% upside from the current share price.
• Viavi beat Q3 estimates with revenue of $406.8M (up 42.8% YoY) and adjusted EPS of $0.27, and management raised Q4 FY2026 guidance to $0.29–$0.31 EPS with revenue guidance of $427M–$437M, prompting several analysts to lift targets.
• Despite the beat, heavy insider and institutional selling and weaker GAAP metrics pressured the stock intraday—insiders sold about 485,772 shares in the past three months—while the consensus remains a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target near $32.88.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $53.00 to $68.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the communications equipment provider's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price target would indicate a potential upside of 49.35% from the company's current price.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Viavi Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. B. Riley Financial boosted their price target on Viavi Solutions from $26.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Viavi Solutions from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Viavi Solutions from $27.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on Viavi Solutions from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.88.

Viavi Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VIAV opened at $45.53 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $35.76 and its 200-day moving average is $24.62. Viavi Solutions has a 1-year low of $8.10 and a 1-year high of $48.89. The stock has a market cap of $10.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -252.93 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.05. Viavi Solutions had a positive return on equity of 13.03% and a negative net margin of 3.38%.The business had revenue of $406.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $393.81 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.15 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 42.8% on a year-over-year basis. Viavi Solutions has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.290-0.310 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Viavi Solutions will post 0.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Viavi Solutions

In other news, SVP Gary W. Staley sold 24,237 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.93, for a total transaction of $579,991.41. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,267 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,260,869.31. This represents a 15.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Oleg Khaykin sold 74,315 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.48, for a total value of $1,967,861.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,849,437 shares in the company, valued at $48,973,091.76. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 485,772 shares of company stock worth $12,736,803. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viavi Solutions

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,400 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 24,555 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 32,572 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 22.9% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,631 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 676 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 51,094 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $910,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. 95.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viavi Solutions News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly beat — Viavi reported revenue of $406.8M (up 42.8% YoY) and adjusted EPS that beat consensus (reported $0.27 vs. estimates ~ $0.22–$0.24), showing strong top‑line growth and margin improvement. This supports the view that core demand is accelerating. Zacks: VIAV Beats Q3
• Positive Sentiment: Raised guidance — Viavi raised Q4 FY2026 guidance to $0.29–$0.31 EPS and revenue $427M–$437M, well above consensus, giving forward visibility and a lift to near‑term expectations. Company Guidance Update
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/upside signals — Some analysts/coverage have moved price targets higher following results/guidance (example: noted price‑target bump reported on MSN), which can support buying interest. MSN: Price Target Increased
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings materials and call — Management released the earnings presentation and held the call (transcript and slide deck available); these detail segment performance, margin drivers and spend cadence — useful for parsing adjusted vs. GAAP items. Earnings Call Transcript Earnings Presentation
• Negative Sentiment: GAAP results and sell pressure — Third‑quarter GAAP net income and diluted EPS were materially lower YoY in some reported summaries (Quiver flagged a very low GAAP EPS figure) and the report highlighted heavy insider and institutional selling, which appears to have triggered a significant intraday decline despite the beat. Quiver: Stock Falls on Q3 Earnings

Viavi Solutions Company 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.

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