NetApp Buys Data Mechanics to Optimize Data Analytics, Machine Learning Initiatives

NetApp (NTAP) has acquired Data Mechanics to allow organizations to optimize data analytics and get incremental value from their cloud infrastructure investments. The financial terms of the deal have been kept under wraps.

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Shares of the hybrid cloud-data services and data management company have jumped 87.8% over the past year. (See NTAP stock chart on TipRanks)

Based in Paris, France, Data Mechanics is a managed platform provider for big data processing and cloud analytics that helps businesses capitalize on Apache Spark, an open-source unified analytics engine for large-scale data processing and machine learning.

The addition of Data Mechanics is in line with NetApp’s strategic initiative to enhance the use of analytics and machine learning. It uses them to identify operating efficiencies and automate manual processes, thereby enabling engineers to focus on more strategic tasks.

Less than a year ago, NetApp acquired Spot, a leading CloudOps provider that automates and optimizes workloads running in public cloud environments. The company plans to integrate Data Mechanics’ team with the Spot team to speed up the development of NetApp’s recently announced Spot Wave solution.

Anthony Lye, SVP and GM of NetApp’s Public Cloud Services business unit commented, “Now more than ever, our customers are adopting cloud-first and cloud-native strategies that will enable them to be more agile and adaptable in the face of unprecedented data growth.”

Speaking of the acquisition, Lye said, “Adding Data Mechanics to our existing solutions will make it simpler and more cost-effective for organizations across all industries to fully leverage Apache Spark and Kubernetes to advance their data and cloud initiatives.”

William Blair analyst Jason Ader recently upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy. Ader believes that the company deserves a “rerating” based on its robust cloud momentum.

Overall, the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on 9 Buys and 7 Holds. The average NetApp analyst price target of $84.92 implies 6.9% upside potential from current levels.