Stock in HubSpot rose sharply Friday after a sunny fourth-quarter earnings report and price target increases.
Courtesy HubSpot
HubSpot
was praised by analysts after the company posted strong results for its fourth quarter and upbeat guidance for 2023.
HubSpot (ticker: HUBS), which specializes in software for customer-relationship management, posted fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.11 a share on net income of $56.8 million. This topped figures from the same quarter last year and beat the consensus analyst expectation of 83 cents on net income of $42.2 million.
Raymond James analyst Brian Peterson maintained his Strong Buy 1 rating but raised his target price to $500 from $360, writing that “bears need some aspirin and neosporin” after the fourth-quarter results. He also called the company “one of the most compelling long-term growth opportunities in our coverage universe,” in a research note Thursday.
Shares of HubSpot were rising 11.1% to $402.00 early Friday.
HubSpot reported an uptick in customer growth of 24% in Dec. 2022, compared with a year earlier. For the full-year 2023, the company offered a total revenue guidance range of $2.050 billion to $2.060 billion—a sizable jump from the $1.731 billion recorded in 2022.
Needham analyst Joshua Reilly maintained his Buy rating and raised his price target to $470 from $380, writing that he believes the company will surpass its initial revenue guidance for 2023 “and continue gaining market share relative to competitors due to their high value and flexible platform.”
Mizuho Securities analyst Siti Panigrahi maintained his Buy rating and raised his price target to $450 from $350, noting the strong fourth-quarter performance. He highlighted how recent restructuring should improve margins beginning in the second quarter of this year. In January, the company announced job cuts of about 7%.
Management was upbeat in the earnings release.
“Looking ahead, we have a tremendous opportunity in 2023 to help our customers grow and make progress on our vision of becoming the #1 CRM [customer-relationship manager] platform for scaling companies,” said CEO Yamini Rangan.
Write to Emily Dattilo at emily.dattilo@dowjones.com
Credit: marketwatch.com