Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA)

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $44.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price indicates a potential upside of 57.99% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AZTA. Wall Street Zen upgraded Azenta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Azenta in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Azenta in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Raymond James Financial raised 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, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Azenta from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.33.

Azenta Price Performance

NASDAQ:AZTA opened at $27.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.63 and a beta of 1.35. Azenta has a one year low of $23.91 and a one year high of $55.63. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.85.

Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.02). Azenta had a negative net margin of 10.34% and a positive return on equity of 1.43%. The business had revenue of $148.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $146.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.08 earnings per share. Azenta’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Azenta will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Azenta declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 14.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Azenta by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,538,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,965,000 after purchasing an additional 99,588 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Azenta by 41.6% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,698,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,783,000 after buying an additional 499,216 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Azenta by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,388,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,347,000 after buying an additional 99,897 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Azenta in the 4th quarter worth $42,755,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in shares of Azenta in the fourth quarter worth $36,803,000. 99.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Azenta News

Here are the key news stories impacting Azenta this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to express upside: Needham reaffirmed its “buy” rating and a $44 price target (implies ~58% upside from current levels). Needham Coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore kept an “outperform” rating and a $45 target despite trimming its prior $50 target — the new target still implies substantial upside from current prices. Evercore Note
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies cut its price target from $42 to $40 but maintained a “buy” rating, signaling continued analyst conviction despite a more cautious near-term view. Jefferies Coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Revenue slightly beat estimates: Q1 revenue was $148.64M vs. consensus $146.89M, and revenue grew ~0.8% YoY — a modest top-line positive but not strong enough to offset margin/earnings weakness. Q1 Release / Slide Deck
• Neutral Sentiment: Company released its Q1 results press release, slide deck and the earnings-call materials — useful for assessing forward commentary and segment trends. Press Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Full earnings call transcript and the presentation are available for deeper detail on guidance, order trends and cost actions — important for investors evaluating whether margin pressure is temporary. Earnings Call Transcript Presentation
• Negative Sentiment: EPS missed consensus: reported $0.09 vs. $0.11 expected — the miss and a negative net margin (~-10%) are the primary near-term negative drivers weighing on the stock. Earnings Summary

About Azenta

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.