Piper Sandler Has Lowered Expectations for Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) Stock Price

Key Points

• Piper Sandler lowered its price target on Braze from $30 to $27 but kept an overweight rating; the $27 target implies roughly a 50% upside from the stock's recent close (~$18).
• Braze reported revenue of $205.17M (+27.9% YoY) and gave a bullish, AI-driven outlook, but it missed EPS ($0.10 vs. $0.14) and remains unprofitable with a negative net margin (16.85%) and negative ROE.
• Most analysts remain bullish (22 Buys, average price target $41.33) and institutional investors own about 90% of the stock, although insiders have been net sellers in recent months.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE - Get Free Report) had its price target decreased by equities researchers at Piper Sandler from $30.00 to $27.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Piper Sandler's price objective points to a potential upside of 49.83% from the company's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Braze in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Braze from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on Braze from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $40.00 price target on Braze in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Braze from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $41.33.

Braze Trading Down 4.8%

BRZE stock opened at $18.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.57. The company has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.38 and a beta of 1.08. Braze has a twelve month low of $15.26 and a twelve month high of $43.89.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 24th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $205.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $198.23 million. Braze had a negative net margin of 16.85% and a negative return on equity of 17.87%. The company's revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.12 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Braze will post -0.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Jonathan Hyman sold 7,391 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.93, for a total transaction of $125,129.63. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,692,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,661,355.69. This represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Astha Malik sold 14,049 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.93, for a total value of $237,849.57. Following the transaction, the insider owned 205,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,475,542.77. This represents a 6.41% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 60,676 shares of company stock valued at $1,027,661 over the last 90 days. 18.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRZE. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Braze by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 21,749 shares of the company's stock worth $619,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Braze by 34.3% during the third quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,843 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Braze by 58.2% during the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Braze by 0.6% during the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 112,638 shares of the company's stock worth $3,203,000 after buying an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Braze by 7.2% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,080 shares of the company's stock worth $315,000 after buying an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. 90.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Braze

Here are the key news stories impacting Braze this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Revenue beat and bullish outlook: Braze posted revenue of $205.2M (+27.9% YoY), topping consensus and gave a strong revenue outlook that management tied to AI-driven product momentum and improved operating leverage. This is the main driver cited for the intraday rally. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade with a high price target: Canaccord Genuity increased its stance to a Buy and set a $43 target, signaling sizable upside from current levels and likely supporting demand. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Management emphasizes AI-driven growth on the earnings call: Executives highlighted AI features and customer traction as secular revenue drivers, which investors view as a multi-quarter growth catalyst. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Full call transcript and slide deck available for deeper diligence — useful for institutional buyers and analysts validating the growth narrative. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest reporting appears anomalous in some feeds (entries showing 0 shares/NaN); treat those data points as unreliable until exchanges confirm.
• Negative Sentiment: EPS miss and continued unprofitability: Braze reported $0.10 EPS vs. $0.14 consensus and still shows negative net margin and ROE, which leaves the valuation sensitive to execution and margin improvement. Read More.

About Braze

Braze, Inc is a publicly traded software company NASDAQ: BRZE that offers a customer engagement platform designed to help brands build personalized relationships with their users. Founded in 2011 as Appboy by Bill Magnuson, Jon Hyman and Mark Ghermezian, the company adopted the Braze name in 2017 to underscore its focus on fostering strong connections between businesses and consumers. Its cloud-based platform consolidates messaging channels including push notifications, in-app messages, email and SMS, enabling companies to deliver timely, context-driven communications at scale.

The core functionality of Braze's platform centers on data-driven segmentation, customer journey orchestration and real-time analytics.

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