Traders Purchase Large Volume of Braze Put Options (NASDAQ:BRZE)

Braze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders purchased 5,672 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 180% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,029 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Jonathan Hyman sold 42,000 shares of Braze stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.47, for a total transaction of $1,363,740.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,143,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,120,320.93. This trade represents a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CRO Edward M. Mcdonnell sold 29,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.38, for a total transaction of $932,990.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive directly owned 409,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,854,189.40. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 203,568 shares of company stock valued at $6,096,461 over the last three months. Company insiders own 12.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BRZE. Whetstone Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Braze during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $671,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Braze in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in shares of Braze by 13.3% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 391,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,488,000 after buying an additional 46,049 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP grew its stake in shares of Braze by 5.5% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 102,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,232,000 after buying an additional 5,360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. acquired a new position in Braze during the second quarter worth $325,000. 90.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRZE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Braze in a report on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Braze from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Braze in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Braze from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their target price on Braze from $27.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.21.

Key Braze News

Here are the key news stories impacting Braze this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Braze reported fiscal Q2 revenue of $227.2 million, up 26.2% year over year and above the $220.3 million consensus estimate. Adjusted EPS of $0.19 also exceeded expectations of $0.16 and rose from $0.15 a year ago. Braze Reports Strong Fiscal Second Quarter 2027 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised fiscal 2027 revenue guidance to $910 million-$913 million, representing roughly 23%-24% growth, and lifted adjusted EPS guidance to $0.64-$0.65 versus the prior consensus of $0.35. The company cited AI product adoption, enterprise expansion, improving operating leverage and record second-quarter free cash flow. Braze Growth and Guidance Analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts maintained bullish ratings or raised targets following the report. Stephens increased its target to $34, Piper Sandler to $30, and DA Davidson set a $40 target; BTIG, Citizens JMP and TD Cowen also reaffirmed positive ratings. JPMorgan maintained an overweight rating with a $34 target despite a modest reduction from $35.
• Neutral Sentiment: Third-quarter guidance calls for revenue of $229 million-$230 million and adjusted EPS of $0.13-$0.14, both above published consensus estimates. However, the outlook appears less impressive relative to investor expectations and implies a slower near-term profit trajectory.
• Negative Sentiment: The immediate selloff reflects disappointment with the third-quarter profit outlook. Investors looked past the Q2 beat and full-year guidance increase because the forecast raised concerns about near-term earnings growth, overshadowing continued revenue momentum and AI adoption. Braze Stock After Disappointing Profit Outlook

Braze Stock Performance

Braze stock traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $24.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,259,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,975,633. Braze has a 12 month low of $15.26 and a 12 month high of $37.33. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.58. The company has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.38 and a beta of 0.88.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 8th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.03. Braze had a negative net margin of 13.55% and a negative return on equity of 16.09%. The firm had revenue of $227.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $220.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. Braze has set its FY 2027 guidance at 0.640-0.650 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 0.130-0.140 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Braze will post -0.78 EPS for the current year.

Braze Company Profile

Braze, Inc is a publicly traded software company (NASDAQ: BRZE) that offers a customer engagement platform designed to help brands build personalized relationships with their users. Founded in 2011 as Appboy by Bill Magnuson, Jon Hyman and Mark Ghermezian, the company adopted the Braze name in 2017 to underscore its focus on fostering strong connections between businesses and consumers. Its cloud-based platform consolidates messaging channels including push notifications, in-app messages, email and SMS, enabling companies to deliver timely, context-driven communications at scale.

The core functionality of Braze’s platform centers on data-driven segmentation, customer journey orchestration and real-time analytics.