What Happened?
Shares of cloud monitoring platform Datadog (NASDAQ: DDOG) jumped 4.9% in the afternoon session after Stifel upgraded the company's stock to "Buy" from "Hold", citing expectations of a strong quarterly performance.
The analyst noted that recent checks hinted Datadog would deliver a larger-than-typical quarterly beat, an expectation that came on the back of accelerating core growth and continued strong gains. Separately, TD Cowen kept its own "Buy" rating on the stock. That firm believed the company would report strong results, exceed its 24% growth guidance, and that its valuation remained attractive with no significant competition concerns.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Datadog’s shares are very volatile and have had 20 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 4 days ago when the stock gained 7.3% on the news that Stifel upgraded the stock from a "Hold" to a "Buy," citing expectations for a strong fourth-quarter performance.
The upgrade came as the firm's checks suggested Datadog was poised for a "larger than typical" quarterly beat, with its core growth accelerating. Stifel set a new price target of $160. Adding to the positive outlook, analysts at Guggenheim also expected the company's revenue growth to accelerate. In separate commentary, Bernstein assigned the company an "Outperform" rating and a $180 price target. The collective optimism from analysts pointed toward a robust upcoming financial report for the company.
Datadog is up 2.2% since the beginning of the year, but at $136.71 per share, it is still trading 31.5% below its 52-week high of $199.72 from November 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Datadog’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,321.
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