Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on the stock from $60.00 to $53.00. The stock had previously closed at $29.38, but opened at $26.21. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Viavi Solutions shares last traded at $25.3690, with a volume of 977,923 shares changing hands.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on VIAV. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. B. Riley Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Viavi Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Viavi Solutions from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Viavi Solutions from $60.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Viavi Solutions has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Ilan Daskal sold 56,290 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.29, for a total value of $2,042,764.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 10,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $367,690.28. This represents a 84.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura A. Black sold 71,000 shares of Viavi Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.12, for a total value of $3,274,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 71,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,297,441.64. This represents a 49.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 199,694 shares of company stock valued at $7,976,233. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

More Viavi Solutions News

Here are the key news stories impacting Viavi Solutions this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fiscal Q1 2027 adjusted EPS was $0.47, above the roughly $0.40–$0.41 analyst consensus and up from $0.15 a year earlier. Revenue rose 56.9% year over year to $469.3 million, exceeding estimates. Viavi also gave optimistic revenue guidance for the next quarter. Article
• Positive Sentiment: The company announced a $500 million share buyback, which could support shareholder returns and signal confidence in its business. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage highlighted the share-price decline, but the supplied article details do not specify what drove the move. Article
• Negative Sentiment: Needham cut its price target to $53 from $60, a potential headwind, although it maintained a Buy rating. Article

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viavi Solutions

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. WPG Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 96.2% during the first quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 775 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Silvant Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Viavi Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Viavi Solutions by 413.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 811 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 653 shares during the last quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Viavi Solutions in the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 83.2% during the 2nd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 852 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. 95.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viavi Solutions Trading Down 14.2%

The firm has a market cap of $6.20 billion, a PE ratio of -168.34 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $37.12 and a 200 day moving average of $38.55.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.06. Viavi Solutions had a positive return on equity of 19.60% and a negative net margin of 2.00%. The firm had revenue of $469.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $455.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 56.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Viavi Solutions Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

About Viavi Solutions

Viavi Solutions Inc (NASDAQ: VIAV) develops equipment, software and services used to test, monitor and secure communications networks. Its solutions support network operators, equipment manufacturers, government agencies and other organizations involved in the design, deployment and operation of wired and wireless networks.

The company’s products include fiber-optic and broadband test instruments, network performance and service-assurance software, optical spectrum analyzers, monitoring systems and tools for testing 5G and other advanced communications technologies.