Leidos Holdings Stock Gets Barrage Of Price Target Cuts: Retail Shrugs It Off
Truist lowered the firm's price target on Leidos to $165 from $185 while keeping a ‘Buy’ rating on the shares. Baird lowered its price target on Leidos to $176 from $190 while keeping an ‘Outperform’ rating on the shares.
FollowShares of Leidos Holdings Inc (LDOS) traded marginally in the red on Wednesday after the stock received a slew of price target cuts from analysts following its earnings report.
Truist lowered the firm's price target on Leidos to $165 from $185 while keeping a ‘Buy’ rating on the shares. According to TheFly, the brokerage noted that the company reported a record fourth-quarter (Q4) book-to-bill of 1.7-times compared with seasonal average of 0.9-times.
The brokerage noted that while the group likely traded down on news of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cutting contracts at the Department of Education, the weakness in Leidos shares is overdone.
Truist expects 2025 to be a pivot year and forecasts a return to mid-single-digit growth with margin expansion in 2026.
Leidos’ Q4 revenue rose 10% year-over-year (YoY) to $4.37 billion compared to a Wall Street estimate of $4.13 billion, according to FinChat. This was driven by strong demand across all customer segments, especially for managed health services.
Earnings per share (EPS) came in at $2.37 versus an expected $2.28. Net income rose 23% YoY to $282 million during the quarter.
The company’s net bookings totaled $7.6 billion in Q4 and $23.4 billion for fiscal year 2024. The firm’s backlog rose 18% YoY to $43.6 billion.
For 2025, Leidos expects revenue at $16.9 billion-$17.3 billion compared to an analyst estimate of $16.97 billion. Non-GAAP Diluted EPS is expected at $10.35-$10.75 compared to a Wall Street estimate of $10.54.
Meanwhile, Baird lowered its price target on Leidos to $176 from $190 while keeping an ‘Outperform’ rating on the shares.
Wells Fargo also lowered its price target to $197 from $199 while retaining an ‘Overweight’ rating on the shares. The firm sees an upside to Leidos' 2025 outlook for both top line and margins but believes that the DOGE overhang needs to clear for the stock to start working again.
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment climbed further into the ‘extremely bullish’ territory (86/100) accompanied by significant retail chatter.
LDOS’ Sentiment Meter and Message Volume as of 1:51 p.m. ET on Feb. 12, 2025 | Source: Stocktwits
Leidos shares have fallen over 4% in 2025 but have gained over 19% over the past year.
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