Toast (NYSE:TOST) Raised to Strong-Buy at Sanford C. Bernstein

Toast (NYSE:TOST) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on TOST. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $37.00 price target on Toast in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Toast from $48.00 to $39.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Toast from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, December 1st. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Toast from $60.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Toast from $47.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Toast currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.18.

Toast Stock Performance

Shares of Toast stock opened at $27.24 on Friday. Toast has a 1 year low of $25.91 and a 1 year high of $49.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.28. The firm has a market cap of $16.01 billion, a PE ratio of 50.44 and a beta of 1.93.

Toast (NYSE:TOST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.08). Toast had a net margin of 5.56% and a return on equity of 18.86%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.05 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Toast will post 0.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Toast declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CRO Jonathan Vassil sold 1,454 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.34, for a total transaction of $44,114.36. Following the transaction, the executive owned 139,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,244,353.62. The trade was a 1.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Brian R. Elworthy sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.38, for a total transaction of $113,557.14. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 235,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,105,325.66. The trade was a 1.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 100,856 shares of company stock valued at $3,540,449 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Toast

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TOST. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Toast by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,428,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,768,256,000 after buying an additional 3,351,545 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Toast by 0.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,764,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,634,339,000 after acquiring an additional 352,435 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Toast by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,157,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $538,259,000 after purchasing an additional 157,394 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Toast by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,372,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,332,000 after purchasing an additional 653,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Toast by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,820,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $348,729,000 after purchasing an additional 282,282 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.91% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Toast

Here are the key news stories impacting Toast this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Revenue and growth: Q4 revenue was $1.63B, up ~22% year-over-year and roughly in line with consensus, signaling sustained top-line momentum that supports longer?term ARR expansion. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains: Major firms (Citigroup and Needham) kept “Buy” ratings even after trimming targets, which can limit downside from negative headlines and signals continued institutional conviction. Read More. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Board authorizes buyback: The company announced a share-repurchase authorization; the report listed $0.00 in buyback dollars (no dollar amount disclosed), so the move signals intent but lacks immediate capital deployment details. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary: Bullish analyst/guest pieces argue Toast’s ARR growth, margin expansion and industry position make it resilient amid sector pressures — helpful for sentiment but not new financial data. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: EPS miss: Toast reported EPS below consensus ($0.16 reported vs. ~$0.24 expected per consensus), which is an earnings disappointment that likely pressured some short?term investor sentiment. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Price target cuts: Citigroup cut its target from $51 to $42 and Needham trimmed theirs from $60 to $35 — reductions that reduce analyst-derived upside even though both maintained Buy ratings. Read More. Read More.

Toast Company Profile

Toast, Inc (NYSE: TOST) is a technology company that builds a cloud-based platform for restaurants and other foodservice businesses. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Toast offers integrated point-of-sale (POS) systems and a suite of software and hardware designed to streamline front-of-house and back-of-house operations. The company went public in 2021 and has positioned itself as a vertically integrated provider for the restaurant industry.

Toast’s product portfolio includes touchscreen POS terminals and handheld order-and-pay devices, kitchen display systems, and peripherals tailored for high-volume foodservice environments.