Several investment firms have updated their stock ratings and price targets on shares of Aruba Networks (NASDAQ: ARUN) in the last week:
- Aruba Networks had its price target raised by analysts at Mizuho from $20.00 to $22.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
- Aruba Networks had its price target raised by analysts at Barclays Capital from $26.00 to $28.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
- Aruba Networks had its price target raised by analysts at Deutsche Bank from $17.00 to $22.00. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock. They wrote, “Solid results and decent guide. Aruba reported FYQ2 revenues of $155m, above our estimate of $151m and consensus of $152m. Pro-forma EPS was $0.22 (two cents from the R&D tax credit), above our estimate and consensus of $0.19. The company guided to Q3 revenue to be $159m – $161m, versus our estimate of $157m and consensus of $158m. They expect proforma EPS of $0.20 above our estimate of $0.19 and in line with consensus of $0.20. The company had a good quarter; however we still remain neutral on the stock given their positioning versus competitors and valuation.”
- Aruba Networks had its price target raised by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus to $28.00. They wrote, “We continue to believe that wireless LANs is a bright spot in a lackluster macro environment (which is largely unchanged versus 2012) and Aruba is likely to grow faster than the market (partly aided by additional sales hires 2 quarters ago). Revenue was up 22.3% y/y to $155.3 million, beating our $151.7 million expectation. Shipment linearity was similar to prior January quarters although bookings were backend weighted due to the lack of a budget flush at the end of calendar 2012. Gross margins were strong, driven by increasing software content.”
- Aruba Networks had its price target raised by analysts at Needham & Company from $23.00 to $25.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
- Aruba Networks had its price target raised by analysts at Wedbush from $25.00 to $26.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
- Aruba Networks ‘s EPS estimates were raised by analysts at Oppenheimer. They now have an “outperform” rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. They previously had a $25.00 price target on the stock. They wrote, “Aruba delivered a better than expected Jan.-qtr. with a strong contribution across regions. Guidance was also better than our checks suggested and reinforces our comfort in our thesis, which is based on an expanding enterprise WiFi market and Aruba moving up the software stack and adding value. We’re particularly encouraged by the quickly growing interest in ClearPass, where trial activity effectively doubled QoQ to ~1,000. We still view ClearPass as providing good LT support for margins and as a key driver of customer additions with about one-third of trials with non-Aruba customers. Aruba Instant interest was also better than we expected, suggesting a good TAM expansion opportunity in the mid-market. We’re buyers.”
- Aruba Networks had its “market perform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at BMO Capital Markets. They now have a $25.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $22.00. They wrote, “Aruba put together another solid quarter, with sales of $155M exceeding our/consensus $152M estimate. EPS of $0.22, topped consensus of $0.19, although it includes $0.02 from a lower tax rate. The highlight of the quarter was the reacceleration in product growth, always an encouraging sign for a growth company, and it reflects strong secular demand for wireless LAN as well as impressive execution by management. Guidance was slightly better than expected and largely factors in the potential impact from the Sequester.”
- Aruba Networks had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Jefferies Group. They now have a $24.75 price target on the stock, up previously from $18.00. They wrote, “Aruba Networks reported impressive fiscal Q2’13 revenue and EPS results; however, we still believe the risk/reward is fairly balanced.”
Aruba Networks traded up 0.16% on Wednesday, hitting $24.70. Aruba Networks has a 52-week low of $12.36 and a 52-week high of $26.78. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $22.58. The company has a market cap of $2.781 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 425.17.
Aruba Networks, Inc. is a provider of next-generation network access solutions for mobile enterprise networks.
