Zacks Research Downgrades Elastic (NYSE:ESTC) to Strong Sell

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Elastic (NYSE:ESTC) from “hold” to “strong sell”, even as the broader analyst community still shows a consensus of Moderate Buy with an average price target of $80.04.
• Recent analyst views have turned more cautious, with several firms cutting price targets on Elastic, including Scotiabank, Oppenheimer, DA Davidson, and Wells Fargo, reflecting concerns about valuation and near-term upside.
• Elastic’s latest earnings were strong: the company beat Q4 EPS and revenue estimates and posted 16% year-over-year revenue growth, but investors are still weighing that against ongoing volatility and negative returns on equity.

Elastic (NYSE:ESTC - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on ESTC. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Elastic from $61.00 to $58.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Wolfe Research set a $55.00 target price on shares of Elastic in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Elastic from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Elastic from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Elastic from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.04.

Elastic Stock Performance

NYSE:ESTC opened at $64.82 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $50.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.83. Elastic has a twelve month low of $42.05 and a twelve month high of $96.07. The company has a market capitalization of $6.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 109.01 and a beta of 0.88.

Elastic (NYSE:ESTC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $450.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $446.66 million. Elastic had a net margin of 21.14% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. Elastic has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.210-3.290 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.570-0.590 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Elastic will post 0.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elastic

In other news, CEO Ashutosh Kulkarni sold 17,756 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.28, for a total transaction of $928,283.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 409,145 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,390,100.60. The trade was a 4.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Shay Banon sold 4,283 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.28, for a total transaction of $223,915.24. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,354,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,676,524.60. The trade was a 0.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $1,996,469. 12.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Elastic

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Elastic during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Elastic during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Elastic during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Elastic by 3,181.3% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 525 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lifted its holdings in Elastic by 206.1% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 551 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.03% of the company's stock.

More Elastic News

Here are the key news stories impacting Elastic this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Elastic beat fiscal Q4 expectations, reporting EPS of $0.61 versus $0.56 expected and revenue of $450.7 million versus $446.7 million expected, with revenue up 16% year over year. Elastic Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2026 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: The company also issued first-quarter and full-year guidance above consensus for EPS, suggesting management sees continued earnings momentum. Elastic Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2026 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street remains broadly constructive: Citigroup raised its price target to $104, and other firms like Jefferies, Canaccord, Oppenheimer, and Barclays still have buy/outperform-style ratings even after trimming targets. Analyst target updates
• Neutral Sentiment: Several analysts cut price targets after the report, including Barclays, Jefferies, Canaccord Genuity, Wedbush, and Oppenheimer, which signals some valuation caution rather than a thesis change. Analyst target updates
• Neutral Sentiment: Some investors may also be focusing on management’s fiscal 2027 outlook implying mid-teens revenue growth, which is still healthy but may look slower than the market hoped for after a strong quarter. Elastic shares fall 3.2% as investors digest Q4 results and fiscal 2027 outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the beat, the stock has been volatile because investors were disappointed by the initial post-earnings reaction and are weighing strong growth against the company’s still-negative margins. Elastic N.V. (ESTC) Stock Falls on Q4 2026 Earnings

Elastic Company Profile

Elastic N.V. operates as a search and analytics company, offering a suite of open source and subscription-based solutions for search, observability and security use cases. Its flagship product, Elasticsearch, enables fast and scalable full-text search and analytics across large volumes of structured and unstructured data. Complementary tools such as Kibana provide visualization capabilities, while Beats and Logstash serve as lightweight data shippers and data processing pipelines, respectively.

The company was founded in 2012 by Shay Banon, who serves as chief technology officer, and Steven Schuurman.

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