Jefferies Financial Group Has Lowered Expectations for Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Stock Price

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) had its target price cut by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $600.00 to $460.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 46.88% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Nova from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Nova from $570.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered Nova from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, October 25th. Evercore set a $475.00 price target on Nova in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Nova from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $456.11.

Nova Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NVMI traded up $32.88 during trading on Friday, reaching $313.18. 463,560 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 440,020. Nova has a 1-year low of $266.43 and a 1-year high of $615.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $347.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $437.96. The firm has a market cap of $9.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.85.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The semiconductor company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $287.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $282.23 million. Nova had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 28.84%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 28.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.16 EPS. Nova has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.030-3.180 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Nova will post 9.89 EPS for the current year.

Nova announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, September 2nd that allows the company to buy back $200 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Share buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Nova

In other news, CEO Gabriel Waisman sold 1,500 shares of Nova stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.27, for a total value of $513,405.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 27,214 shares in the company, valued at $9,314,535.78. This trade represents a 5.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Shay Wolfing sold 3,864 shares of Nova stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.28, for a total transaction of $1,403,713.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 21,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,777,461.52. The trade was a 15.29% 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. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nova

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new stake in shares of Nova during the second quarter worth $38,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Nova by 688.9% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 71 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in shares of Nova by 214.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 154 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Advisors MI bought a new stake in shares of Nova during the 1st quarter valued at $109,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Nova by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

More Nova News

Here are the key news stories impacting Nova this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 revenue reached a record $287.8 million, up 28.2% year over year, while adjusted EPS of $2.86 topped the roughly $2.77 consensus. Nova reports record third-quarter results
• Positive Sentiment: Nova forecast Q4 revenue of $305 million–$315 million and EPS of $3.03–$3.18, with the EPS range just above analyst expectations. Management also pointed to strong memory and packaging demand and visibility into 2027 growth. Nova Q4 outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Despite the earnings beat, one post-results report said the stock dropped, suggesting strong expectations may have limited the market’s initial response. Nova Q3 results and stock reaction
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays reduced its price target to $500 from $600, and Needham cut its target to $420 from $570. Both firms kept positive ratings—Overweight and Buy, respectively—but the lower targets could weigh on sentiment. Barclays rating

Nova Company Profile

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ: NVMI) develops and supplies metrology and process-control solutions for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Its systems help chipmakers measure and control critical dimensions, film thickness, material properties and other characteristics during the production of integrated circuits.

The company’s product portfolio includes optical and X-ray metrology systems, chemical metrology solutions, and related software and analytics tools. These technologies are used in multiple stages of semiconductor fabrication, including front-end wafer processing and advanced packaging, to support process development, yield improvement and manufacturing control.

Founded in 1993, Nova is headquartered in Rehovot, Israel, and serves semiconductor manufacturers and other industry customers through operations and support activities across North America, Europe and Asia.