Fastly (NYSE:FSLY) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Fastly, Inc. (NYSE:FSLY) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $10.07, but opened at $7.90. Fastly shares last traded at $7.68, with a volume of 3,779,502 shares changing hands.

The company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.01 by ($0.22). Fastly had a negative return on equity of 13.24% and a negative net margin of 27.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on FSLY. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Fastly from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Fastly from $5.50 to $7.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Fastly from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Craig Hallum upped their target price on Fastly from $6.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Fastly from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.85.

Insider Activity at Fastly

In related news, CFO Ronald W. Kisling sold 16,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.25, for a total value of $100,637.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 542,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,390,387.50. The trade was a 2.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Artur Bergman sold 16,922 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.25, for a total value of $105,762.50. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 6,138,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,368,125. This trade represents a 0.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 260,152 shares of company stock worth $2,287,883. 6.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fastly

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fastly in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,979,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in Fastly during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $848,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in Fastly during the 4th quarter worth approximately $83,000. Cinctive Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Fastly in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $472,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in shares of Fastly during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $558,000. 79.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fastly Trading Down 24.7 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.11. The company has a quick ratio of 3.97, a current ratio of 3.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.04 and a beta of 1.26.

Fastly Company Profile

Fastly, Inc operates an edge cloud platform for processing, serving, and securing its customer's applications in the United States, the Asia Pacific, Europe, and internationally. The edge cloud is a category of Infrastructure as a Service that enables developers to build, secure, and deliver digital experiences at the edge of the internet.