Nutanix Shares Getting Attention Following RBC Price Target Raise

Nutanix Inc NTNX shares are higher for the seventh straight day Friday, with the rally strengthening since Wednesday. The stock rallied close to 10 percent to $33.18 Wednesday amid a positive analyst opinion and has extended its gain Friday, with the most recent strength traced back to an upward price target revision by RBC Capital Markets.

Nutanix was adding 3.22 percent to $34.25, its highest in about a year, at last check.

The company, a leader in hyper-converged infrastructure, saw its shares initiated at Buy by Needham Wednesday. The company is uniquely positioned to deliver a disruptive product that solves customer pain points, analyst Jack Andrews said in a note. The analyst sees significant long-term upside if investors view the company as a pure-play software name.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Matthew Hedberg raised his price target for Nutanix shares from $34 to $37, according to Marketwatch. The action was attributed to positive expectations concerning the fiscal first quarter results due after the market close Nov. 30, 2017.

Analysts, on average, expect the company to report a loss of 26 cents per share for the quarter, narrower than the loss of 37 cents per share last year, while revenues are expected to jump 60 percent to $266.86 million.

"Sentiment around the stock has improved since last quarter, but we still think expectations and valuation remain reasonable as we look for the opportunity around the pivot to software to be outlined and understood by investors," Marketwatch said, quoting Hedberg.

Nutanix stock is up over 29 percent year-to-date, while it is still down about 7 percent since its debut on Sep. 30.

Related Links:

3 Stages To The Nutanix Strategy Going Forward

Nutanix And The Upcoming Catalysts, A Software Story