What Happened?
Shares of life sciences company Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) jumped 5% in the afternoon session after Raymond James upgraded the stock to 'Outperform' from 'Market Perform' and set a $35 price target. The investment firm noted that while the company's recent third-quarter results were 'noisy,' the stock appeared to have reached a bottom. The upgrade reflected a belief that Azenta's margin improvements and cost-saving initiatives showed positive momentum. The analyst viewed the recent earnings report, which beat profit expectations but missed on revenue, as a 'clearing event' that set the stage for a higher valuation with reasonable future performance.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $28.05, up 4.4% from previous close.
Is now the time to buy Azenta? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
What Is The Market Telling Us
Azenta’s shares are very volatile and have had 27 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 1 day ago when the stock dropped 16.3% on the news that the company announced mixed third-quarter financial results, where a failure to meet revenue targets overshadowed a profit beat. The company disclosed revenue of approximately $144 million, which fell short of analyst projections. This result was flat compared to the same period last year and reflected a 2% organic decline. The shortfall stemmed from weakness in its Sample Management Solutions division, where revenue dropped by 4%. In contrast, Azenta posted adjusted earnings per share of $0.19, which exceeded expectations. Despite the disappointing sales figures, the company maintained its financial guidance for the full fiscal year, but investors focused on the revenue miss.
Azenta is down 43.9% since the beginning of the year, and at $28.05 per share, it is trading 51.9% below its 52-week high of $58.34 from August 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Azenta’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $494.88.
Do you want to know what moves the business you care about? Add them to your StockStory watchlist and every time a stock significantly moves, we provide you with a timely explanation straight to your inbox. It’s free and will only take you a second.