Why Confluent Stock Was Racing Higher This Week

Data streaming company Confluent (NASDAQ: CFLT) was streaming stock market success in recent trading sessions. Following the release of its fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 financial results, investors leaped on the stock; as of early Friday morning its price had risen by almost 21% week to date, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

A solid quarter, and a pair of new collaborations

Confluent's quarterly performance impressed not only investors, but a swarm of analysts that published bullish updates on the stock.

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For the quarter, Confluent's overall revenue leaped 23% higher year over year to top $262 million, although its non-GAAP (adjusted) net income sagged by 3% to land at slightly more than $31 million ($0.09 per share). Both figures were comfortably above the consensus analyst estimates, despite the dip in profitability.

The same day it published those results, the busy company also announced a pair of new business partnerships, one with data warehousing specialist Databricks, and the other with India-based tech company Jio Platforms. Of the two, arguably the more exciting is the latter, as the two companies will collaborate to push the development of artificial intelligence (AI) in the massive country.

The pundits became more positive

With this gush of positive news it was easy to be bullish on Confluent's future. Sure enough, more than a few analysts raised their price targets on the stock as the week progressed.

Among this group was JMP Securities. Its pundit Patrick Walravens reiterated his market outperform (i.e., buy) recommendation on Confluent shares, as well as his $40-per-share price target.

According to reports, Walravens believes the company has the most comprehensive data streaming platform on the scene -- a great asset in our current age of streaming -- and is in front of an addressable market worth roughly $60 billion.

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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Confluent. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.