Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) Hits New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Braze hit a 52-week high, trading as high as $46.34. The average analyst price target is $43.95, and the consensus rating is Hold.
• The company beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $0.19 versus $0.16 expected and revenue of $227.23 million, up 26.2% year over year.
• Insiders sold 456,869 shares worth about $18.5 million over the past 90 days; the reported transactions were made under pre-arranged trading plans.

Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $46.34 and last traded at $46.2650, with a volume of 280,128 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $46.24.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho set a $47.50 price target on Braze in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Braze from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Braze from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Braze from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Braze from an "overweight" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $47.50 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $43.95.

Braze Trading Up 0.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock's 50 day moving average is $33.10 and its 200-day moving average is $25.36. The company has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.02 and a beta of 0.77.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 8th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.03. Braze had a negative return on equity of 16.11% and a negative net margin of 13.55%. The firm had revenue of $227.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $220.27 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.15 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. Braze has set its FY 2027 guidance at 0.640-0.650 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 0.130-0.140 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Braze, Inc. will post -0.70 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Braze

In related news, insider Astha Malik sold 15,724 shares of Braze stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.57, for a total transaction of $464,958.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 326,233 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,646,709.81. This trade represents a 4.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CRO Edward M. Mcdonnell sold 29,732 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.38, for a total transaction of $932,990.16. Following the sale, the executive directly owned 409,630 shares in the company, valued at $12,854,189.40. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 456,869 shares of company stock valued at $18,540,085. 12.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Braze

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BRZE. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Braze by 30.4% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,885,577 shares of the company's stock worth $44,518,000 after acquiring an additional 439,513 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Braze by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,525,716 shares of the company's stock worth $38,295,000 after purchasing an additional 5,475 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new position in Braze in the 1st quarter worth about $14,294,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Braze during the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,814,000. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its position in Braze by 36.5% during the 1st quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 538,845 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,722,000 after purchasing an additional 144,176 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.47% of the company's stock.

About Braze

Braze, Inc. provides a cloud-based customer engagement platform that helps businesses communicate with customers through personalized, interactive experiences. Its software enables companies to use customer data to create and manage campaigns across channels such as email, mobile push notifications, in-app messages, web messaging and SMS. The Braze platform includes tools for audience segmentation, campaign and customer-journey orchestration, personalization and performance analysis. Businesses use these capabilities to coordinate communications and adapt them based on customer behavior and preferences.

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