Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Shares Up 16.5% After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Key Points

• Viasat's shares surged 16.5% following a better-than-expected earnings announcement, recording an EPS of $0.17 compared to analysts' estimates of ($0.15).
• The company's revenue for the quarter reached $1.17 billion, exceeding expectations of $1.13 billion and showing a 4.0% increase year-over-year.
• Several research firms have upgraded Viasat's stock, with ratings moving from "market perform" to "outperform" and price targets being raised up to $25.00.

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) shares were up 16.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $25.10 and last traded at $24.81. Approximately 1,908,546 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the average daily volume of 3,479,527 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.29.

The communications equipment provider reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 6.37% and a negative net margin of 13.11%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.30 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VSAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Thursday. B. Riley lowered their price target on shares of Viasat from $56.00 to $52.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Viasat from $10.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Viasat from $16.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, William Blair raised Viasat from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $21.13.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Viasat by 6.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,646,644 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $152,618,000 after acquiring an additional 872,784 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its position in Viasat by 2.9% during the first quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 5,190,232 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $53,913,000 after purchasing an additional 145,868 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Viasat by 64.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,866,242 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $29,866,000 after acquiring an additional 1,128,338 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Viasat by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,384,942 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $24,851,000 after purchasing an additional 497,405 shares during the period. Finally, Long Focus Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viasat in the first quarter valued at about $24,695,000. Institutional investors own 86.05% of the company's stock.

Viasat Stock Down 2.3%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.52 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

About Viasat

Viasat, Inc provides broadband and communications products and services worldwide. The company's Satellite Services segment offers satellite-based fixed broadband services, including broadband internet access and voice over internet protocol services to consumers and businesses; in-flight entertainment and aviation software services to commercial airlines and private business jets; satellite-based connectivity services; mobile broadband services, including satellite-based internet services to energy offshore vessels, cruise ships, consumer ferries, and yachts; and energy services, which include ultra-secure solutions IP connectivity, bandwidth-optimized over-the-top applications, industrial internet-of-things big data enablement, and industry-leading machine learning analytics.