Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) Shares Gap Up Following Earnings Beat

Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE) gapped up prior to trading on Friday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $36.70, but opened at $41.46. Braze shares last traded at $39.45, with a volume of 1,874,846 shares traded.

The company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $160.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $155.72 million. Braze had a negative net margin of 20.41% and a negative return on equity of 24.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.04) EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BRZE shares. Stephens began coverage on Braze in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Braze in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Braze in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Braze from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $50.00 target price on Braze and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Braze has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO William Magnuson sold 18,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.82, for a total value of $736,801.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 564,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,053,748.12. This represents a 3.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Susan Wiseman sold 3,486 shares of Braze stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total value of $139,509.72. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 182,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,288,002.18. The trade was a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 89,470 shares of company stock worth $3,841,921 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 24.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Braze

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Braze by 168.0% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Braze by 9,188.9% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 836 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 827 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Braze by 8,436.4% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Braze during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Braze during the 4th quarter worth about $115,000. 90.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Braze Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.65 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.97.

About Braze

Braze, Inc operates a customer engagement platform that provides interactions between consumers and brands worldwide. The company offers Braze software development kits that automatically manage data ingestion and deliver mobile and web notifications, in-application/in-browser interstitial messages, and content cards; REST API that can be used to import or export data or to trigger workflows between Braze and brands' existing technology stacks; Partner Data Integrations, which allow brands to sync user cohorts from partners; Data Transformation, in which brands can programmatically sync and transform user data; and Braze Cloud Data Ingestion that enables brands to harness their customer data.