Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE) gapped up before the market opened 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 changing hands.

The company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $160.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $155.72 million. Braze had a negative net margin of 20.41% and a negative return on equity of 24.88%. Braze’s quarterly revenue was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.04) EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BRZE shares. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Braze from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 target price (up from $50.00) on shares of Braze in a report on Friday. Macquarie upped their price target on shares of Braze from $30.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Braze in a report on Friday. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Braze in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Braze

In other news, insider Myles Kleeger sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.43, for a total transaction of $454,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 184,396 shares in the company, valued at $8,377,110.28. The trade was a 5.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Pankaj Malik sold 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.77, for a total value of $169,349.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 54,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,507,463.68. This represents a 6.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 89,470 shares of company stock worth $3,841,921. 24.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Braze

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Braze in the third quarter valued at approximately $673,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Braze by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 509,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,486,000 after purchasing an additional 57,713 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Braze by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 36,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,175,000 after purchasing an additional 1,751 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Braze by 393.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 9,430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in Braze by 22.7% during the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 37,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,217,000 after buying an additional 6,955 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.47% of the company’s stock.

Braze Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.01. The company has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.90 and a beta of 1.17.

Braze Company Profile

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.