Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG)

DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $35.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective points to a potential upside of 64.55% from the stock’s current price.

DKNG has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of DraftKings from $32.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of DraftKings from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of DraftKings from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of DraftKings from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $29.00 price objective on shares of DraftKings in a research report on Monday, August 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, DraftKings presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.29.

DraftKings Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of DraftKings stock traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $21.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 17,313,628 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,420,058. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -55.97, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.63. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.22. DraftKings has a 1-year low of $20.46 and a 1-year high of $43.66.

DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. DraftKings had a negative return on equity of 11.26% and a negative net margin of 2.68%.DraftKings’s revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that DraftKings will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other DraftKings news, Director Jocelyn Moore sold 10,759 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.05, for a total value of $258,753.95. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,238.05. This represents a 85.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 47.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On DraftKings

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of DraftKings by 30.6% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,654,000 after purchasing an additional 15,358 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of DraftKings by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 13,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of DraftKings by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 47,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,208,000 after purchasing an additional 5,930 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of DraftKings by 50.4% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 45,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,149,000 after purchasing an additional 15,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of DraftKings by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 13,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 2,750 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 37.70% of the company’s stock.

DraftKings News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting DraftKings this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst remains bullish despite a lower target. Citizens raised its valuation framework only modestly lower, cutting its price target from $37 to $35 while maintaining a “market outperform” rating. The revised target still implies substantial upside from recent levels, with the firm citing DraftKings’ incremental investment plans. DraftKings Inc. PT Lowered to $35 at Citizens
• Positive Sentiment: Prediction markets could support longer-term growth. A bullish analysis argues that DraftKings’ prediction platform is expanding customer growth and transaction volumes, while potentially offering higher margins. The company’s broader “Super App” strategy and expected improvement in the second half of 2026 could provide catalysts if spending produces stronger engagement and revenue. DraftKings: Prediction Pessimism Overly Done
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data offers little directional signal. A report described a large increase in short interest but simultaneously listed total short interest at zero shares and a zero-day days-to-cover ratio. That apparent data inconsistency provides no reliable evidence of either significant bearish positioning or short-covering demand.
• Negative Sentiment: Kalshi’s reported NFL prediction-market lead pressured the stock. Headlines showing Kalshi ahead of DraftKings in NFL Week One prediction-market share triggered a sharp decline. However, adjusted calculations suggest the gap may be smaller, while Kalshi faces increasing legal uncertainty. DraftKings Falls: Is Kalshi’s NFL Lead Really That Big?
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are worried about margin dilution. DraftKings’ plans to increase spending on prediction markets raised concerns that customer-acquisition and expansion costs could delay profitability. Recent commentary about targeting losing gamblers also intensified scrutiny of the company’s customer economics and responsible-gaming practices. DraftKings Drops as Prediction-Market Spending Plans Stir Margin Doubts

About DraftKings

DraftKings Inc is a digital sports entertainment and gaming company that operates online sports betting, iGaming and daily fantasy sports platforms. Its products enable customers to place bets on professional and collegiate sports, play online casino games where permitted, and participate in fantasy contests across a range of sports.

The company also offers related services, including retail sportsbooks in select jurisdictions and sports media content through DraftKings Network. Its offerings are available in U.S.