The Zacks Analyst Blog MediaAlpha, Braze, Byrna Technologies, The Real Brokerage and Klaviyo

Boxlight Corporation (BOXL) came out with a quarterly loss of $0.34 per share versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $0.09. This compares to loss of $0.51 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items.

This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of -277.78%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this company would post a loss of $0.37 per share when it actually produced a loss of $0.18, delivering a surprise of 51.35%.

Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times.

Boxlight, which belongs to the Zacks Technology Services industry, posted revenues of $36.29 million for the quarter ended September 2024, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 18.82%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $49.67 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates two times over the last four quarters.

The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call.

Boxlight shares have lost about 48.6% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 25.5%.

What's Next for Boxlight?

While Boxlight has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock?

There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately.

Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions.

Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Boxlight: mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is -$0.29 on $36.05 million in revenues for the coming quarter and -$1.26 on $156.36 million in revenues for the current fiscal year.

Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Technology Services is currently in the top 28% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.

Another stock from the same industry, Braze, Inc. (BRZE), has yet to report results for the quarter ended October 2024.

This company is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.01 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +80%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 2.4% higher over the last 30 days to the current level.

Braze, Inc.'s revenues are expected to be $148.23 million, up 19.6% from the year-ago quarter.

Zacks Investment Research

The technology services industry is mature, with demand for services in good shape. Revenues, income and cash flows are anticipated to gradually reach pre-pandemic levels, aiding most industry players to pay out stable dividends. Consequently, this industry is flourishing in 2024.

We recommend five mid and small-sized technology services stocks with a favorable Zacks Rank and massive price upside in the short-term. These are - MediaAlpha Inc. MAX, Braze Inc. BRZE, Byrna Technologies Inc. BYRN, The Real Brokerage Inc. REAX and Klaviyo Inc. KVYO.

Technology Services Industry Thriving

The business software industry is gaining from robust demand for multi-cloud-enabled software solutions, given the ongoing transition from legacy platforms to modern cloud-based infrastructure.

The industry players are incorporating artificial intelligence and tools like machine learning in their applications to make the same more dynamic and result-oriented. Elevated demand for enterprise software, which is ramping up productivity and improving the decision-making process, is a key catalyst.

In the past year, the Zacks Defined Technology Services industry has rallied an impressive 76.4%. Year to date, the Technology services industry has surged 53.8%. Since the Technology Services industry ranks within the top 26% of Zacks Ranked Industries, we expect it to outperform the market over the next three to six months.

Buy 5 Mid and Small Tech Services Stocks With Massive Upside

We have narrowed our search to five small and mid-cap technology services stocks with huge short-term upside price potential. Each of these stocks carries either a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

MediaAlpha Inc.

Zacks Rank #1 MediaAlpha operates an insurance customer acquisition platform in the United States. MAX optimizes customer acquisition in various verticals of property and casualty insurance, health insurance, and life insurance. MAX provides real-time programmatic technology platform specializing in vertical search and metasearch.

Astonishing Price Upside Potential for MAX Stock

The average short-term price target of brokerage firms represents a jump of 95.6% from the last closing price of $12.47. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $13-$31. This indicates a maximum upside of 148.6% and no downside.

MediaAlpha has expected revenue and earnings growth rate of more than 100% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 20% in the last 30 days.

Braze Inc.

Zacks Rank #2 Braze provides a comprehensive customer engagement platform which powers interactions between consumers and brands. BRZE can ingest and process customer data in real-time, orchestrate and optimize contextually relevant, cross-channel marketing campaigns and continuously evolve customer engagement strategies. BRZE operates principally in Berlin, Chicago, London, San Francisco, Singapore and Tokyo.

Robust Price Upside Potential for BRZE Shares

The average short-term price target of brokerage firms represents a jump of 53.6% from the last closing price of $35.70. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $30-$75. This indicates a maximum upside of 110.1% and a maximum downside of 16%.

Braze has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 23.9% and more than 100%, respectively, for the current year (ending January 2025). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved more than 100% in the last 90 days.

Byrna Technologies Inc.

Zacks Rank #2 Byrna Technologies is a less-lethal self-defense technology company, engaged in the development, manufacture, and sale of less-lethal personal security solutions in the United States, South Africa, Europe, South America, Asia, and Canada. BYRN’s products include handheld personal security devices and shoulder-fired launchers designed for use by consumers and professional security customers without the need for a background check or firearms license.

BYRN sells its products to the consumer market through its Byrna e-commerce store and Amazon storefront, Side Hustle dealer program, premier dealers, and a network of outdoor and sporting goods stores either directly or through distributors; and to the professional security market through the Train the Trainer program.

Solid Price Upside Potential for BYRN Shares

The average short-term price target of brokerage firms represents an increase of 24.4% from the last closing price of $18.38. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $20-$25. This indicates a maximum upside of 36% and no downside.

Byrna Technologies has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 18.8% and 17.7%, respectively, for next year (ending November 2025). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 11.1% in the last 60 days.

The Real Brokerage Inc.

Zacks Rank #2 The Real Brokerage operates as a real estate technology company in the United States and Canada. REAX operates through three segments: North American Brokerage, Real Title, and One Real Mortgage. REAX offers brokerage, title, and mortgage broker services.

Excellent Price Upside Potential for REAX Stock

The average short-term price target of brokerage firms represents an increase of 34.2% from the last closing price of $5.51. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $8-$8. This indicates a maximum upside of 56.9% and no downside.

The Real Brokerage has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 76.2% and 0.1%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 16.7% in the last seven days.

Klaviyo Inc.

Zacks Rank #1 Klaviyo is a technology company providing a software-as-a-service platform in the United States, other Americas, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. KVYO offers Klaviyo, a cloud-native platform for data store, segmentation engine, campaigns and flows, and messaging infrastructure.

KVYO also provides email to send personalized marketing emails, including drag-and-drop email templates to edit and customize pre-built templates, email campaigns and automations with smart send time features, generative artificial intelligence for subject line creation, A/B testing tools, and consumer list segmentation, short message services to send targeted marketing text messages to consumers, as well as built-in contact cards to ensure that texts do not appear as random numbers, and push, a personalized push notification to engage with consumer.

Strong Price Upside Potential for KVYO Stock

The average short-term price target of brokerage firms represents an increase of 13.3% from the last closing price of $36.53. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $30-$47. This indicates a maximum upside of 28.7% and a maximum downside of 17.9%.

Klaviyo has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 32.2% and 36.1%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 2.1% in the last 30 days.

Zacks Investment Research

For those looking to find strong Business Services stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Klaviyo, Inc. (KVYO) one of those stocks right now? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Business Services sector should help us answer this question.

Klaviyo, Inc. is a member of our Business Services group, which includes 308 different companies and currently sits at #5 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

The Zacks Rank is a successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. Klaviyo, Inc. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for KVYO's full-year earnings has moved 62.5% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that KVYO has returned about 31.5% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Business Services stocks have gained an average of 26.6%. This shows that Klaviyo, Inc. is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another Business Services stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Payoneer Global Inc. (PAYO). The stock has returned 103.1% year-to-date.

In Payoneer Global Inc.'s case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 30.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Breaking things down more, Klaviyo, Inc. is a member of the Technology Services industry, which includes 165 individual companies and currently sits at #70 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 53.5% so far this year, meaning that KVYO is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns. Payoneer Global Inc. is also part of the same industry.

Investors interested in the Business Services sector may want to keep a close eye on Klaviyo, Inc. and Payoneer Global Inc. as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

Zacks Investment Research