Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $36.91, but opened at $32.05. Azenta shares last traded at $29.4950, with a volume of 146,670 shares changing hands.

The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.01. Azenta had a negative net margin of 10.01% and a positive return on equity of 1.40%. The business had revenue of $159.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.76 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.18 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Azenta declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 10th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 14.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Key Stories Impacting Azenta

Here are the key news stories impacting Azenta this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Needham reaffirmed its “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price target (largest upside among recent notes), which supports upside expectations. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Azenta filed its formal Q1 fiscal 2026 press release detailing results and materials; investors should review guidance/commentary in the release and slide deck for clarity on demand trends. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest data for early February appears to show zero shares (likely a reporting/data anomaly); treat this item as unreliable until confirmed by an exchange filing.
• Negative Sentiment: Q1 earnings missed EPS expectations: reported $0.09 vs. consensus $0.11 (a $0.02 shortfall). Revenue was a modest beat ($148.64M vs. $146.89M), but margins remain under pressure and revenue growth was very low year-over-year. The EPS miss is the main near-term negative catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Jefferies trimmed its price target from $42 to $40 (but kept a “buy” rating), which reduces the analyst-driven upside and may have contributed to today’s selling pressure. Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AZTA. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Azenta from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Zacks Research upgraded Azenta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Evercore ISI set a $50.00 price target on Azenta in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Azenta from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of Azenta in a research report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.17.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Azenta

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AZTA. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Azenta during the 1st quarter valued at about $435,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Azenta by 214.8% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 340,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,798,000 after purchasing an additional 232,405 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Azenta by 10.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in Azenta by 17.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 201,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,974,000 after buying an additional 30,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in Azenta by 113.5% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 1,009 shares during the last quarter. 99.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Azenta Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.88. The company has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.92 and a beta of 1.35.

Azenta Company Profile

Azenta, Inc (NASDAQ: AZTA) is a life sciences technology company specializing in sample management, cryogenic storage and genomic services for research and clinical applications. Formerly the Life Sciences division of Brooks Automation, Azenta provides integrated solutions that enable customers to store, track and analyze biological samples with high levels of automation, data integrity and efficiency. Its offerings span automated storage systems, biorepository management software and end‐to‐end sample tracking workflows.

In addition to hardware and informatics platforms for sample storage, Azenta’s Genomics business delivers next‐generation sequencing (NGS), DNA synthesis, and molecular biology services.