Lake Street Capital Upgrades PubMatic (NASDAQ:PUBM) to Strong-Buy

PubMatic (NASDAQ:PUBM) was upgraded by research analysts at Lake Street Capital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 price target on shares of PubMatic in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of PubMatic in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Evercore lifted their target price on PubMatic from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. B. Riley Financial upgraded PubMatic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $10.50 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on PubMatic from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.63.

PubMatic Price Performance

PUBM opened at $8.10 on Friday. PubMatic has a 12 month low of $6.15 and a 12 month high of $13.88. The business has a 50-day moving average of $7.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $375.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.13 and a beta of 1.58.

PubMatic (NASDAQ:PUBM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.13. PubMatic had a negative net margin of 5.11% and a negative return on equity of 5.68%. The business had revenue of $80.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.12 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that PubMatic will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PubMatic news, CEO Rajeev K. Goel sold 44,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.28, for a total value of $276,320.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Amar K. Goel sold 7,158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.73, for a total value of $62,489.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 12,496 shares in the company, valued at $109,090.08. This trade represents a 36.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 431,650 shares of company stock valued at $3,434,455 in the last 90 days. 26.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PubMatic

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in PubMatic by 320.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 918,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,144,000 after acquiring an additional 699,549 shares in the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP lifted its holdings in PubMatic by 239.0% in the 3rd quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 748,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,197,000 after buying an additional 527,650 shares in the last quarter. Simcoe Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PubMatic during the fourth quarter worth about $3,625,000. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of PubMatic by 254.7% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 422,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,499,000 after acquiring an additional 303,479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roubaix Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of PubMatic in the third quarter worth about $2,247,000. 64.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting PubMatic

Here are the key news stories impacting PubMatic this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings and revenue beat—PubMatic reported $0.29 EPS vs. $0.16 expected and revenue of $80.05M vs. $76.12M, a clear upside that likely moved the stock. Press Release / Slide Deck
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher price targets — Rosenblatt raised its price target to $21 and kept a Buy rating (large upside vs. current levels), and B. Riley upgraded the stock to Buy with a $10.50 target; these endorsements add buying momentum. Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: Management guided Q1 revenue to $58.0M–$60.0M (slightly above consensus) and signaled a push for double‑digit revenue growth in H2 2026—this forward commentary supports upward revision expectations. PubMatic targets double-digit revenue growth in H2 2026 while accelerating agentic AI adoption
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic focus on agentic AI—coverage highlights management accelerating agentic AI investments, which investors view as a growth and differentiation catalyst for programmatic ad technology. PubMatic Is All In On Agentic AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Full earnings materials and call transcript are available for deeper due diligence (slides, press release, and transcript provide color on margins, product traction, and channel dynamics). Earnings Transcript & Materials
• Negative Sentiment: Profitability remains a concern—PubMatic still reported a negative net margin (~‑2.5%) and negative ROE, and Q4 EPS ($0.29) was below last year’s $0.41, which could temper sentiment despite the beat. Zacks: Surpasses Q4 Estimates

About PubMatic

PubMatic is a cloud-based digital advertising technology company that provides a supply-side platform (SSP) enabling publishers to automate and optimize the sale of their ad inventory across display, mobile, video and connected TV channels. Its core offerings include real-time bidding infrastructure, header bidding solutions under the OpenWrap brand and data analytics tools that deliver actionable insights on audience engagement and monetization performance. By facilitating seamless auctions and providing transparent reporting, PubMatic helps publishers maximize yield while improving buyer experiences.

Founded in 2006 by Rajeev Goel and a team of ad-tech veterans, PubMatic grew from an early entrant in programmatic selling to a publicly traded company, listing on the Nasdaq (symbol: PUBM) in December 2020.