Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) has recently updated its FY 2023 earnings guidance, with a projected earnings per share of $5.63-$5.83 and revenue guidance of $1.04 billion-$1.06 billion, as compared to the previously estimated consensus earnings per share of $7.06 and consensus revenue estimate of $1.17 billion, respectively. This announcement on Thursday may have caused some investor confusion about the future prospects of the company.
As of Friday’s trading session, NASDAQ AZPN opened at $174.90, with a market capitalization of $11.33 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 165.00, along with a PEG ratio of 2.12 and beta value of 0.95.
Aspen Technology is one of the leading software development companies that provides comprehensive solutions for process industries to enhance their business processes design, operation management, optimization in production planning & scheduling and operational performance evaluation using proprietary empirical models based on chemical manufacturing processes.
The current feedback from industry experts indicates a neutral rating on Aspen Technology with six analysts giving it a hold rating while three analysts rate it as buy stock offering an average target price projection at approximately $217.83.
A glance at research reports from key institutional investors affirmed by Bloomberg reveals diverse opinions about Aspen Technology′s stock value compared to its competitors within its industry sector.
Robert W Baird rated Aspen Technology as neutral after cutting down their estimated target price to $202 while Piper Sandler projects a stable outlook for the company despite their lowered target price from $240 to$195.
Tight competition across the software developing industry could make Aspen′s position challenging in terms of grabbing potential buyers; however, as an already well-established company with innovative solutions for managing advanced production processes coupled with optimistic overall ratings harbors hope for this narrow-focused software developer even if they were not achieving a constant state of growth.
Aspen Technology Misses Q1 EPS Target, but Investors Remain Hopeful for a Turnaround
Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) investors have been keeping a close eye on the company’s performance, particularly after last quarter’s earnings report. On January 25th, the technology company announced that its quarterly earnings per share (EPS) was only $0.06, well below industry analysts’ estimated consensus of $1.13. This means Aspen Technology missed out by as much as $1.07 in the latest quarter.
While there was hope for positive returns in equity, at 2.24%, the figure wasn’t enough to offset negative net margins of -8.09%. Revenue for the last quarter came in at $242.84 million, shy of investor expectations set at $272.07 million.
Investors are now eagerly awaiting a turnaround with predictions that Aspen Technology will post an EPS of 6.23% over the current fiscal year – a welcome indication that fortunes could be turning around.
Despite this bit of bad news, we’ve seen several hedge funds either add or reduce their stakes in AZPN recently. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc., for example, added an additional 993 shares to their portfolio during Q1, bringing their total number of shares owned to nearly 3,404; while Great West Life Assurance Co purchased an extra 2579 shares during Q1 pushing its holding up to approximately $6.2 million.
Surprisingly though, other big investors have reaped significantly better rewards out of this recent market volatility than their bullish counterparts with Allianz Asset Management GmbH showing the biggest gains after growing their position in Aspen Technology by an astonishing 1331%. Their current holdings stand at just over 170K shares worth around $28 million today.
As always with tech stocks these days it seems they’re something of a mixed bag when it comes to stock performance and outlooks – but one thing is certain – even during tough times investors are still flocking and vying for shares in the companies that they believe will weather them.
