Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) Price Target Cut to $25.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) had its price objective reduced by Morgan Stanley from $29.00 to $25.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 44.18% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of Criteo in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Criteo from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $20.50 in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets set a $20.00 target price on Criteo in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $18.00 price target (down from $34.00) on shares of Criteo in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Criteo in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Criteo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.15.

Criteo Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:CRTO traded up $0.29 during trading on Thursday, hitting $17.34. 418,868 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 457,194. Criteo has a 52 week low of $15.57 and a 52 week high of $25.29. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $19.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.77. The company has a market cap of $871.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.11 and a beta of 0.29.

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The information services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $428.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $263.57 million. Criteo had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 6.06%.Criteo’s quarterly revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Criteo will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Criteo news, CFO Sarah Js Glickman sold 2,465 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.06, for a total transaction of $42,052.90. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 431,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,367,855.74. The trade was a 0.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Criteo

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRTO. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Criteo by 1,376.7% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,270 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 1,184 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Criteo by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,313 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $391,000 after buying an additional 1,094 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in shares of Criteo by 145.0% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 432,881 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,372,000 after buying an additional 256,227 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Criteo by 41.6% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 8,587 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 2,524 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in Criteo by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,411,988 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $105,711,000 after buying an additional 82,134 shares during the period. 94.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Criteo News

Here are the key news stories impacting Criteo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Criteo reported second-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.80 per share, beating the $0.72 consensus estimate. The company also deployed $30 million for share repurchases during the quarter, supporting shareholder returns. Criteo Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Benchmark lowered its price target from $25 to $21 but maintained a Buy rating, implying roughly 21% upside based on the referenced share price. The reduced target reflects more cautious expectations rather than a change to the firm’s bullish rating. Benchmark Price Target Update
• Positive Sentiment: Management highlighted momentum in artificial-intelligence initiatives, which could support longer-term growth and improve Criteo’s advertising platform competitiveness. The company also canceled 4.5 million treasury shares, reducing share capital and potentially improving per-share metrics. Criteo CFO and Treasury Share Announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Criteo appointed Connor McGogney as chief financial officer effective August 10, with current CFO Sarah Glickman moving to an advisory role. The leadership transition may add execution risk, although continuity is supported by Glickman’s ongoing involvement. Criteo Appoints Connor McGogney as CFO
• Neutral Sentiment: Criteo announced plans for a cross-border merger into a U.S. holding company. The restructuring could simplify the corporate structure, but investors will likely assess its tax, governance and implementation implications. Criteo Cross-Border Merger Plan
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue guidance of $237 million to $241 million is well below the $279.6 million analyst consensus. Full-year 2026 revenue guidance of approximately $1.0 billion to $1.1 billion also trails expectations near $1.1 billion, signaling weaker near-term demand. Criteo 2026 Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Management expects 2026 contribution ex-TAC to decline 10% to 12%, assuming no recovery in large-client spending. Second-quarter revenue fell 11.3% year over year and EPS declined from $0.92 a year earlier, reinforcing concerns that the earnings beat may not be durable. Criteo Weak Outlook

Criteo Company Profile

Criteo is a global technology company specializing in digital performance advertising and commerce media solutions. The company provides a range of AI-driven ad products designed to help brands, retailers, and agencies deliver personalized promotional messages to consumers across web, mobile, and connected TV environments. By leveraging large-scale data analytics and machine learning algorithms, Criteo’s platform optimizes the timing, placement, and creative of ads to drive engagement and conversions.

At the core of Criteo’s offering is its dynamic retargeting solution, which enables advertisers to automatically generate and display personalized product recommendations based on user behavior.