Fastly (NYSE:FSLY) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Fastly, Inc. (NYSE:FSLY)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. 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) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.01 by ($0.22). Fastly had a negative net margin of 27.47% and a negative return on equity of 13.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Ronald W. Kisling sold 16,102 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 $100,637.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 542,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,390,387.50. This represents a 2.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Artur Bergman sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.58, for a total transaction of $105,800.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 3,364,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,592,558.88. This represents a 0.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 260,152 shares of company stock worth $2,287,883. 6.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fastly

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Fastly by 3.2% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 68,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $503,000 after buying an additional 2,128 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Fastly by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 17,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Effects LLC grew its holdings in Fastly by 86.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 23,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,000 after acquiring an additional 11,000 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Fastly by 308.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 76,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,760,000 after purchasing an additional 57,448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP raised its holdings in shares of Fastly by 118.7% in the 3rd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 39,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 21,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.71% of the company’s stock.

Fastly Trading Down 24.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 3.97 and a current ratio of 3.97. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $10.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of -7.04 and a beta of 1.26.

About Fastly

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.