William Blair Has Bearish Forecast for Novanta Q2 Earnings

Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT) – Investment analysts at William Blair lowered their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Novanta in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, May 7th. William Blair analyst B. Drab now forecasts that the technology company will post earnings per share of $0.74 for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.76. The consensus estimate for Novanta’s current full-year earnings is $3.03 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Novanta’s Q4 2025 earnings at $1.00 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $3.44 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $4.21 EPS.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $233.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $233.34 million. Novanta had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 6.52%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS.

Separately, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Novanta from $169.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

Novanta Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NOVT opened at $121.91 on Friday. Novanta has a 12 month low of $98.76 and a 12 month high of $187.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.00 and a beta of 1.51. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $124.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $146.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 1.81.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOVT. Vestcor Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Novanta during the first quarter worth about $291,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Novanta in the 1st quarter worth about $330,000. Premier Fund Managers Ltd grew its holdings in Novanta by 141.2% in the 1st quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 3,053 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 1,787 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novanta by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 3,079 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Creek Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Novanta by 21.1% in the first quarter. Summit Creek Advisors LLC now owns 56,258 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,194,000 after acquiring an additional 9,791 shares during the last quarter. 98.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Novanta

Novanta, Inc engages in the provision of core technology solutions to healthcare and advanced industrial original equipment manufacturers. It operates through the following segments: Photonics, Vision, and Precision Motion. The Photonics segment designs, manufactures, and markets photonics-based solutions, including laser scanning and laser beam delivery, CO2 laser, continuous wave and ultrafast laser, and optical light engine products.