Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) Stock Price Up 5.9% on Analyst Upgrade

Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE) shares shot up 5.9% during trading on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $32.00 to $33.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Braze traded as high as $22.97 and last traded at $22.87. 1,001,432 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 3,084,046 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.60.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on BRZE. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Braze in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Braze from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Braze from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Braze from $42.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $40.00 target price on shares of Braze in a report on Monday, February 9th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Jonathan Hyman sold 7,391 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.93, for a total transaction of $125,129.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,692,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,661,355.69. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Pankaj Malik sold 2,893 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.93, for a total value of $48,978.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 50,679 shares in the company, valued at $857,995.47. The trade was a 5.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 60,676 shares of company stock valued at $1,027,661. Corporate insiders own 18.20% of the company’s stock.

Braze News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Braze this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 topline beat and upbeat commentary — Revenue of $205.2M topped Street views (≈$198M) and grew ~28% year-over-year; management highlighted accelerating AI-powered product adoption and said adjusted operating profits should rise materially next year. BusinessWire Q4 Results
• Positive Sentiment: $100 million buyback — Braze announced a $100M share repurchase program, which supports EPS and signals management confidence. Benzinga: Analyst Revisions & Buyback
• Positive Sentiment: Strong AI narrative and bullish commentary — Several write-ups frame Braze as benefiting from AI-enabled marketing adoption and argue current sell‑off overstates long-term AI risk to the company’s application-layer role. Fool: Why Braze Stock Is Up
• Positive Sentiment: Unusual options activity — Traders bought a large volume of call options (≈8,070 contracts), consistent with speculative bullish positioning into/after the print.
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street reaction is mixed but generally constructive — Multiple broker notes were published after the quarter: a few firms nudged targets higher or reaffirmed overweight/buy ratings while emphasizing growth potential amid valuation pressure. 247WallSt: Analyst Reactions
• Negative Sentiment: EPS miss and profitability metrics — GAAP/adjusted EPS missed consensus ($0.10 vs. ~$0.14) and Braze still posts negative net margins and ROE, which keep near-term profitability concerns in play. Zacks: Earnings Lag
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple price-target cuts — Several banks trimmed targets (Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, UBS, Stifel, Oppenheimer, Mizuho, Piper and others), reflecting continued valuation compression and differing views on marketing spend durability and AI risk. Benzinga: Analyst Price Target Moves

Institutional Trading of Braze

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Braze by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,851,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,793,000 after purchasing an additional 892,635 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Braze by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,687,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,445,000 after buying an additional 261,351 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Braze by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,455,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,831,000 after buying an additional 139,133 shares in the last quarter. Battery Management CORP. boosted its stake in shares of Braze by 70.2% during the 3rd quarter. Battery Management CORP. now owns 2,425,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,967,000 after buying an additional 1,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Braze by 28.8% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,320,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,197,000 after buying an additional 518,103 shares during the last quarter. 90.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Braze Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.70 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.53.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 24th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.04). Braze had a negative return on equity of 19.30% and a negative net margin of 17.78%.The company had revenue of $205.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $198.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.12 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Braze, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current year.

Braze Company Profile

Braze, Inc is a publicly traded software company (NASDAQ: BRZE) that offers a customer engagement platform designed to help brands build personalized relationships with their users. Founded in 2011 as Appboy by Bill Magnuson, Jon Hyman and Mark Ghermezian, the company adopted the Braze name in 2017 to underscore its focus on fostering strong connections between businesses and consumers. Its cloud-based platform consolidates messaging channels including push notifications, in-app messages, email and SMS, enabling companies to deliver timely, context-driven communications at scale.

The core functionality of Braze’s platform centers on data-driven segmentation, customer journey orchestration and real-time analytics.