Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) Cut to “Neutral” at Citigroup

Citigroup cut shares of Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $47.50 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $48.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 target price on shares of Braze in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Braze from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Braze from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Braze from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $47.50 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Braze from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Braze has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.95.

Braze Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of BRZE opened at $45.88 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a PE ratio of -44.54 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a fifty day moving average of $29.64 and a 200 day moving average of $25.54. Braze has a 52-week low of $15.26 and a 52-week high of $45.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 8th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.03. Braze had a negative net margin of 13.55% and a negative return on equity of 16.11%. The company had revenue of $227.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.15 earnings per share. Braze’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Braze has set its FY 2027 guidance at 0.640-0.650 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 0.130-0.140 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Braze will post -0.70 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Braze

In related news, insider Astha Malik sold 15,724 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.57, for a total value of $464,958.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 326,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,646,709.81. The trade was a 4.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CRO Edward M. Mcdonnell sold 29,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.38, for a total transaction of $932,990.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive directly owned 409,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,854,189.40. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 498,568 shares of company stock worth $19,315,911 over the last three months. 12.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Braze by 30.4% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,885,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,518,000 after purchasing an additional 439,513 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its position in Braze by 11.2% during the first quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,370,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,369,000 after purchasing an additional 137,843 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new stake in Braze during the first quarter valued at about $14,294,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Braze in the second quarter valued at about $11,814,000. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its stake in Braze by 36.5% in the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 538,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,722,000 after purchasing an additional 144,176 shares during the last quarter. 90.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Braze News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Braze this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce agreed to acquire Braze for $47.50 per share in cash, valuing the customer-engagement software company at approximately $5.66 billion. The offer represents a substantial premium to Braze’s pre-announcement price and gives shareholders a defined cash exit. Salesforce expects to integrate Braze’s mobile messaging, customer data and automated marketing capabilities into Marketing Cloud. Why Braze Stock Soared This Week
• Positive Sentiment: High-volume purchases of Braze call options and commentary that the stock may still be undervalued after its recent rally indicate continued bullish positioning among some investors. Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Braze Call Options
• Neutral Sentiment: The acquisition effectively establishes a near-term ceiling around the $47.50 offer price. Analysts have raised fair-value estimates toward that level, but the limited remaining upside has prompted Barclays, Canaccord Genuity Group, Mizuho, DA Davidson and Citigroup to move toward Hold or equivalent ratings. Braze Stock Sees Fair Value Lift
• Neutral Sentiment: The deal remains subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals, so the discount between the market price and $47.50 reflects closing risk and the time required to complete the transaction.
• Neutral Sentiment: Chief Business Officer Astha Malik’s reported shareholding was revised to 257,756 shares following a tax-withholding adjustment. The filing appears administrative rather than a new investment signal. Astha Malik Shareholding Adjustment
• Negative Sentiment: CTO Jonathan Hyman sold 285,000 shares for approximately $12.9 million and previously sold another 10,000 shares. Both transactions were executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, and he retains a substantial stake, limiting—but not eliminating—the negative signal. Braze Insider Selling

About Braze

Braze, Inc is a customer engagement software company that provides a platform for businesses to build, manage and measure personalized interactions with consumers. Its technology is designed to help brands communicate with customers across digital channels, including mobile applications, websites, email, SMS and messaging services.

The Braze platform supports customer data collection and segmentation, campaign creation, journey orchestration, experimentation and engagement analytics. Its capabilities include in-app and web messaging, push notifications, email marketing, content personalization and automated lifecycle campaigns.