Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) Trading 5.9% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE) shot up 5.9% on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $32.00 to $33.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Braze traded as high as $22.97 and last traded at $22.87. 1,001,432 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 3,084,046 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.60.

BRZE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Braze in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Braze from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Braze in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $40.00 target price on shares of Braze in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Braze in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.67.

Insider Transactions at Braze

In other Braze news, CAO Pankaj Malik sold 2,893 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.93, for a total value of $48,978.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 50,679 shares in the company, valued at $857,995.47. This represents a 5.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Susan Wiseman sold 4,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.03, for a total value of $70,964.01. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 209,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,573,983.92. This trade represents a 1.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 60,676 shares of company stock valued at $1,027,661. 18.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Braze News

Here are the key news stories impacting Braze this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Management said more brands are adopting Braze’s AI marketing tools and expects adjusted operating profits to increase materially — reinforcing the growth / margin-recovery story. Why Braze Stock Surged Today
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 revenue topped expectations and management authorized a $100M buyback (including a $50M ASR). The combination of top-line beat, buyback, and strong guidance is the primary near-term bullish catalyst. These Analysts Revise Their Forecasts On Braze Following Q4 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators emphasize AI-driven product expansion and strong enterprise demand; several firms reiterated or raised ratings despite mixed target moves — supporting the recovery narrative. BRZE Q4 Deep Dive
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually large call-option activity (≈8,070 calls) signals speculative or institutional bullish positioning immediately after the print (short-term demand pressure on the stock).
• Neutral Sentiment: While revenue beat, Braze missed EPS (reported $0.10 vs. ~ $0.115 expected) — a near-term negative for profitability metrics but management attributes margin pressure to growth investments. Q4 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple brokers trimmed price targets (Citigroup, Goldman, UBS, Oppenheimer, Stifel, Mizuho, Piper, others) — signaling cautious/discounted valuations and leaving upside dependent on execution against raised guidance.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Braze

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BRZE. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its stake in Braze by 592.4% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,105,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,801,019 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Braze by 443.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,404,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,941,000 after buying an additional 1,145,748 shares during the period. UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of Braze by 421.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,279,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,394,000 after buying an additional 1,034,087 shares during the period. Battery Management CORP. increased its holdings in shares of Braze by 70.2% during the 3rd quarter. Battery Management CORP. now owns 2,425,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,967,000 after buying an additional 1,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Braze by 238.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,351,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,429,000 after buying an additional 951,674 shares during the period. 90.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Braze Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of -19.11 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $19.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.51.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 24th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.04). Braze had a negative return on equity of 19.30% and a negative net margin of 17.78%.The business had revenue of $205.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $198.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Braze, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Braze Company Profile

Braze, Inc is a publicly traded software company (NASDAQ: BRZE) that offers a customer engagement platform designed to help brands build personalized relationships with their users. Founded in 2011 as Appboy by Bill Magnuson, Jon Hyman and Mark Ghermezian, the company adopted the Braze name in 2017 to underscore its focus on fostering strong connections between businesses and consumers. Its cloud-based platform consolidates messaging channels including push notifications, in-app messages, email and SMS, enabling companies to deliver timely, context-driven communications at scale.

The core functionality of Braze’s platform centers on data-driven segmentation, customer journey orchestration and real-time analytics.