Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA) Shares Up 8.7% Following Earnings Beat

Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA) shot up 8.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $80.35 and last traded at $78.01. 3,287,275 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 7% from the average session volume of 3,080,268 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.74.

The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.05. Okta had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 4.18%. The firm had revenue of $761.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $749.87 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Okta has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.740-3.820 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.840-0.860 EPS.

Okta announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, January 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

More Okta News

Here are the key news stories impacting Okta this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat and signs of enterprise traction — Okta reported stronger-than-expected Q4 revenue and EPS (revenue ~$761M, EPS $0.90) with cRPO/contract metrics up, which underpins the near-term rally. Okta Earnings Beat, But Growth Questions Remain
• Positive Sentiment: AI‑agent product traction — Management said AI‑related products (e.g., Auth0 for AI Agents / Okta for AI Agents) contributed meaningfully to Q4 bookings and the company exceeded $3B in ACV, giving a credible growth narrative tied to securing non‑human identities. Okta Ties AI Security Push To Larger Contracts And Equity Plans
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and bullish notes — Multiple brokers reiterated or upgraded coverage after the print (BMO upgraded to Outperform with a $97 PT; JPMorgan raised its PT slightly; Jefferies/DA Davidson remain constructive), which supports near‑term upside. BMO Capital Upgrades Okta to Outperform
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst positioning — while some firms kept or raised price targets, many others trimmed targets on a mix of valuation and near‑term growth concerns; consensus views show upside but with varied conviction. Okta To Rally Around 22%? Here Are 10 Top Analyst Forecasts For Friday
• Neutral Sentiment: Equity plan / shelf filing announced — Okta filed a $763M shelf tied to an ESOP equity offering; routine for employee programs but worth noting for potential future supply. Okta Ties AI Security Push To Larger Contracts And Equity Plans
• Negative Sentiment: Cautious FY‑2027 guidance and Q1 outlook — management’s FY‑27 and Q1 guidance implied a near‑term revenue deceleration (Q1 revenue guide slightly below Street estimates), which tempers the rally and keeps longer‑term growth questions alive. Okta’s Q4 results surpass estimates, but guidance appears mixed
• Negative Sentiment: Competition and execution questions on the AI agent opportunity — analysts warn that the AI‑agent TAM is attractive but unproven; large cloud players and security vendors are building competing solutions, making monetization and sustained re‑acceleration uncertain. Okta: Bigger Deals And Renewed Growth, Thanks To Agentic AI
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst price‑target cuts — several brokers trimmed targets post‑earnings despite positive notes, signaling caution on valuation and the company’s ability to reaccelerate growth. Benzinga Coverage of Price Target Changes

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Okta from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $138.00 price target on shares of Okta in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Okta from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Okta from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Okta from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Okta has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Brett Tighe sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.07, for a total transaction of $950,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 134,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,775,981.95. This trade represents a 6.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Larissa Schwartz sold 1,899 shares of Okta stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.74, for a total value of $172,315.26. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 38,164 shares in the company, valued at $3,463,001.36. This trade represents a 4.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,927 shares of company stock worth $3,272,658. 5.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Okta

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OKTA. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Okta during the first quarter valued at $225,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Okta by 853.4% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 4,950 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Okta during the second quarter valued at about $244,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Okta by 5,770.0% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 587 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Okta by 5.3% during the second quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 51,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,144,000 after buying an additional 2,618 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.64% of the company’s stock.

Okta Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.38. The firm has a market cap of $14.31 billion, a PE ratio of 61.62, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.79.

About Okta

Okta, Inc is a publicly traded provider of identity and access management solutions, headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 2009 by Todd McKinnon and Frederic Kerrest, the company completed its initial public offering in April 2017. Under the leadership of McKinnon as chief executive officer and Kerrest as chief operating officer, Okta has grown into a leading vendor in the cybersecurity space, focusing on secure user authentication, single sign-on and lifecycle management for digital identities.

At the core of Okta’s offering is the Okta Identity Cloud, a suite of cloud-native services that enable organizations to manage user access across web and mobile applications, on-premises systems and APIs.