What happened
Shares of Alteryx (AYX) climbed 39.4% in January, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, extending last year's positive momentum ahead of its fourth-quarter 2019 report later this week.
So what
Alteryx soared nearly 80% in 2019 -- making the data science and analytics company one of the market's better-performing tech stocks -- including a healthy post-earnings pop that drove shares 24% higher in November alone. But Alteryx largely gave up those gains in December despite a relative lack of company-specific news, in part as traders took some of their profits off the table.
Image source: Getty Images.
It certainly helped when, on Jan. 24, Wedbush analyst Steve Koenig reiterated his outperform rating and raised his 12-month price target from $126 to $152 -- a roughly 6% premium from today's price (even after last month's climb) at around $143 per share. Koenig wrote that he's "relatively confident" the company will handily exceed expectations yet again when it releases quarterly results this Thursday after the market close.
Now what
When that report comes out, Wall Street will hold it up to Alteryx's latest guidance, which calls for fourth-quarter revenue of $128 million to $131 million (or growth of 44% to 47% year over year), and adjusted net income per share of $0.27 to $0.30.
Given the company's habit of underpromising and overdelivering, most analysts are anticipating results near the high end of Alteryx's target ranges; the consensus estimate currently calls for earnings of $0.29 per share on revenue of $130.3 million.
In the end, if Alteryx is able to beat even Wall Street's lofty expectations as Koenig suggested, don't be surprised if the stock has more room to run from here.
