Raymond James is growing more optimistic on Harmonic stock. The firm upgraded the broadband and video streaming stock to strong buy from outperform on Thursday, coupled with a $16 per share price target. Raymond James’ forecast implies 58.1% upside from Wednesday’s $10.12 close. Harmonic stock soared more than 8% in midday trading on Thursday. Shares have slipped about 16% from the start of the year. The company focuses on broadband and video streaming solutions, as well as video products used by cable, software and network companies. HLIT YTD mountain Harmonic stock has slipped more than 15% from the start of the year. Raymond James analyst Simon Leopold said “a more constructive view” on 2024 results underpinned the upgrade, with specific focus on customers like Comcast and Charter Communications stepping up purchases. Indeed, Charter announced a strategic partnership with Harmonic in March to roll out cable modem termination systems for next-gen broadband services. Leopold estimates that Charter could ultimately reach a run rate of $100 million next year, given that the company is similar in size to peer client Comcast. “Harmonic is a reinvention story,” Leopold said. “Facing possible irrelevance, Harmonic pivoted its products and business toward software oriented architectures focused on video delivery and next gen broadband. With key reference accounts secured and a lead over legacy platform competitors, we think Harmonic seems poised for success.” — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report. Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.
