Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Azenta, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZTA) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $36.91, but opened at $32.05. Azenta shares last traded at $29.4950, with a volume of 146,670 shares.

The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $148.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $146.89 million. Azenta had a negative net margin of 10.01% and a positive return on equity of 1.40%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.08 EPS.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Azenta from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Azenta in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Evercore ISI set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Azenta in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Azenta from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Azenta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Four equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Azenta has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.83.

Institutional Trading of Azenta

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Azenta by 31.7% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 149,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,566,000 after purchasing an additional 35,874 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Azenta during the 2nd quarter valued at about $128,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Azenta by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 807,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,845,000 after acquiring an additional 3,372 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Azenta during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $794,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Azenta by 38.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,064,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,769,000 after purchasing an additional 297,353 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.08% of the company’s stock.

Azenta Trading Down 22.8%

The company has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of -21.95 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s 50 day moving average is $36.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.91.

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.