Fastly (NYSE:FSLY) Shares Gap Up on Strong Earnings

Fastly, Inc. (NYSE:FSLY) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $6.03, but opened at $6.77. Fastly shares last traded at $7.36, with a volume of 2,216,156 shares traded.

The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.01. Fastly had a negative net margin of 29.07% and a negative return on equity of 12.75%. The business had revenue of $144.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.05) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on FSLY shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Fastly from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Fastly from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Fastly from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Fastly from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Fastly in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastly presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.28.

Insider Transactions at Fastly

In other news, CTO Artur Bergman sold 12,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.04, for a total transaction of $103,080.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 3,374,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,127,056.48. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Todd Nightingale sold 35,509 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.04, for a total value of $285,492.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,553,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,488,540.04. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 102,903 shares of company stock valued at $798,627. 6.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fastly

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in Fastly by 169.1% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 4,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 2,960 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Fastly by 451.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 5,945 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Fastly by 128.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 3,221 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Fastly during the 4th quarter valued at $72,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Fastly during the 4th quarter worth $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.71% of the company’s stock.

Fastly Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.73 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a quick ratio of 3.97, a current ratio of 3.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $6.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.92.

About Fastly

Fastly, Inc operates an edge cloud platform for processing, serving, and securing its customer's applications in the United States, the Asia Pacific, Europe, and internationally. The edge cloud is a category of Infrastructure as a Service that enables developers to build, secure, and deliver digital experiences at the edge of the internet.