Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) Trading Up 3.7% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Shares rose 3.7% to $37.21 on Tuesday, but volume was light (~1.42M shares, down 74% vs. average).
• Analysts have raised multiple targets (e.g., Needham $36, Rosenblatt $42), yet consensus is a “Moderate Buy” with an average target of $25.
• Viavi beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.22 vs. $0.19) and reported revenue up 36.4% YoY, but still has a negative net margin, and insiders sold roughly 485,772 shares (~$12.7M) last quarter.

Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV - Get Free Report) shares were up 3.7% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $37.34 and last traded at $37.2110. Approximately 1,421,424 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 5,507,611 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.87.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on VIAV shares. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Viavi Solutions from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Viavi Solutions from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Viavi Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Viavi Solutions from $27.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $25.00.

Viavi Solutions Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $8.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -209.11 and a beta of 0.85. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $29.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a current ratio of 2.61.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.03. Viavi Solutions had a negative net margin of 3.38% and a positive return on equity of 13.03%. The business had revenue of $369.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $365.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.13 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 36.4% on a year-over-year basis. Viavi Solutions has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.220-4.000 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Viavi Solutions Inc. will post 0.26 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viavi Solutions news, SVP Gary W. Staley sold 24,237 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.93, for a total value of $579,991.41. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,267 shares in the company, valued at $3,260,869.31. The trade was a 15.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Oleg Khaykin sold 74,315 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.48, for a total transaction of $1,967,861.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,849,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,973,091.76. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 485,772 shares of company stock worth $12,736,803 in the last quarter. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viavi Solutions

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VIAV. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 431.1% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,639,682 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $84,258,000 after purchasing an additional 5,389,435 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 116.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,809,513 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $67,886,000 after purchasing an additional 2,045,702 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 1,011.9% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,187,600 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $38,983,000 after purchasing an additional 1,990,848 shares during the last quarter. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viavi Solutions in the 4th quarter worth about $33,323,000. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc bought a new stake in shares of Viavi Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth about $20,110,000. Institutional investors own 95.54% of the company's stock.

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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