The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC +1.52%) has gotten left out of the stock market party recently, as it hasn't been able to match the performance of other market benchmarks that have climbed to new all-time highs. But on Friday, the Nasdaq finally joined in on the fun, and it managed to power higher by nearly 1% to close the week on a positive note.
The Nasdaq has a lot of growth stocks, and many of those top names have suffered pullbacks in 2021 after impressive performance last year. Datadog (DDOG +2.55%) managed to claw back part of its lost ground on Friday as investors looked at its most recent earnings. First, though, we'll take a look at marijuana stock Tilray (TLRY +0.00%) to see what drove it even more sharply higher on Friday.
Tilray moves higher
Shares of Tilray popped higher by 14%. The cannabis company finally managed earlier this week to close its merger with industry peer Aphria, and now, the combined enterprise is starting to get some recognition for its accomplishments.
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Analysts at Jefferies had been downbeat on Tilray for a while, having had an underperform rating on the cannabis stock. However, Jefferies changed its tune on Friday, making a rare double ratings boost all the way to buy. They now argue that combining with Aphria was the best move Tilray could've made, and they believe that the post-merger company has plenty of room to grow not only in the U.S. and Canada but also in Europe.
Jefferies believes that the stock could climb to $23 per share. Tilray got a good part of the way there on Friday, but even after its big move upward, the price target still offers 42% upside from the close.
The big question throughout the industry is whether the U.S. will decriminalize marijuana at the federal level. That would give a huge boost to the entire playing field, but post-merger Tilray would be in an especially strong position to take advantage.
Datadog is an investor's best friend
Meanwhile, Datadog shares climbed 8%. The cloud-application monitoring service reported solid first-quarter results that took some of the sting out of recent share-price declines for the company.
Datadog's numbers looked strong. Revenue jumped more than 50% compared to the first quarter of 2020. The company now has 1,437 customers bringing in $100,000 or more in annual recurring revenue, up from just 960 a year ago. Adjusted earnings came in at $0.06 per share, once again demonstrating Datadog's ability to be profitable.
Datadog also has high hopes for the remainder of the year. Its full-year 2021 outlook includes calls for sales to come in between $880 million and $890 million, which would mark a growth rate of roughly 45% to 48% from 2020 levels. Adjusted earnings are likely to come in between $0.13 and $0.16 per share, according to the company.
Investors are excited at the strategic moves that Datadog has made recently, including the acquisition of software-as-a-service security platform Sqreen in April. Moreover, the company is working hard to offer new integrations with other cloud apps and services along with its own innovative products. All told, the cloud looks as healthy as ever, and Datadog is positioning itself to take advantage of its opportunity to stay on a steep growth curve higher.
