Why AvePoint Stock Spiked on Wednesday?

Shares of AvePoint, Inc. (AVPT) spiked 12.9% following the news that Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of the company with a Buy rating. Shares closed at $11.42 on July 21.

Don't Miss our Black Friday Offers:

Unlock your investing potential with TipRanks Premium - Now At 40% OFF!
Make smarter investments with weekly expert stock picks from the Smart Investor Newsletter

AvePoint is the largest Microsoft 365 data management solutions provider and offers the only full suite of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions to migrate, manage, and protect data in Microsoft 365. The company has more than 7 million cloud users, including some of the Fortune 500 companies.

AvePoint started trading on July 2, after consummating an SPAC merger with Apex Technology Acquisition Corp. The stock is down almost 5% since its IPO. (See AvePoint stock charts on TipRanks)

Yesterday, analyst Brian Essex of Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of AvePoint and assigned a price target of $17, implying 48.9% upside potential to current levels.

Essex believes the company remains “relatively undiscovered” due to its recent listing and has huge growth potential given its lucrative business model.

Essex also goes on to state that the company is poised to benefit from secular tailwinds, such as the rapid transformation to digitalization due to the COVID-19 pandemic, together with the increasing adoption of Office 365 software.

AvePoint reported revenues of $151.5 million in FY2020 and year-over-year annual recurring revenue (ARR) growth of 33% in Q1, 2021. Essex forecasts a compounded annual revenue growth rate of more than 30% up until 2023.

The stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on 2 unanimous Buys. The average AvePoint price target of $16 implies 40.1% upside potential to current levels.