Stifel Nicolaus Issues Positive Forecast for Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) Stock Price

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) had its price target increased by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $60.00 to $65.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 57.66% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on VIAV. B. Riley Financial lowered their price objective on Viavi Solutions from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Viavi Solutions from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Viavi Solutions from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Viavi Solutions from $25.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.88.

Viavi Solutions Stock Up 6.0%

NASDAQ:VIAV traded up $2.33 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $41.23. 1,803,434 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,315,423. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $44.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.81. The firm has a market cap of $9.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -170.15 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.61. Viavi Solutions has a twelve month low of $10.02 and a twelve month high of $60.43.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $443.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $432.62 million. Viavi Solutions had a negative net margin of 4.03% and a positive return on equity of 16.80%. The firm’s revenue was up 52.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.13 earnings per share. Viavi Solutions has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.400-0.420 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Viavi Solutions will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Oleg Khaykin sold 136,547 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.82, for a total value of $7,075,865.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,188,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,603,512.36. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viavi Solutions

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Viavi Solutions by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,620,410 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $278,356,000 after purchasing an additional 664,956 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,846,226 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $86,875,000 after buying an additional 231,570 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,673,145 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $118,915,000 after buying an additional 33,463 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,351,211 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $95,373,000 after buying an additional 20,776 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Viavi Solutions by 116.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,809,513 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $67,886,000 after buying an additional 2,045,702 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.54% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Viavi Solutions

Here are the key news stories impacting Viavi Solutions this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings and revenue beat expectations. Viavi reported adjusted EPS of $0.34, above the $0.30 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $443.1 million versus expectations of $432.6 million. Revenue increased 52.5% year over year, and EPS more than doubled from $0.13 a year earlier. Viavi Solutions Tops Q4 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Fiscal 2027 outlook was well above Wall Street forecasts. Viavi guided for first-quarter EPS of $0.40-$0.42, compared with the $0.27 consensus, and revenue of $450 million-$460 million versus the $433.2 million consensus. Management also highlighted its goal of reaching a $500 million quarterly revenue run rate in calendar 2027. Viavi anticipates Q1 FY2027 EPS of $0.40-$0.42
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain bullish despite some target revisions. Rosenblatt reaffirmed its Buy rating and $70 target, while Needham maintained a Buy rating and reduced its target from $68 to $60. Both targets imply substantial upside from recent trading levels. Needham lowers Viavi price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are weighing growth against valuation. The earnings beat and outlook support the bullish case, but commentary has raised questions about whether the current valuation fully reflects Viavi’s rapid growth and margin improvement. Viavi Solutions following earnings beat and guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider trading is a cautionary signal. QuiverQuant reported 26 insider sales and no insider purchases during the past six months, including substantial sales by CEO Oleg Khaykin. Such activity may temper enthusiasm, even though it does not necessarily indicate a change in business outlook.

Viavi Solutions Company Profile

Viavi Solutions Inc is a provider of network test, monitoring and assurance solutions for communications service providers, cable operators, enterprises and government agencies. The company offers an extensive portfolio of fiber optic and copper cable test and measurement instruments, wireless network testing equipment and network performance monitoring software. Its products are designed to support the deployment, maintenance and optimization of high-speed broadband, 5G wireless, data center and enterprise networks.

Viavi’s product offerings are organized into two primary segments: Network & Service Enablement and Optical Security & Performance.