Shares of Fastly (NYSE: FSLY), an edge-computing specialist, rose rapidly today after the company reported first-quarter sales and earnings that outpaced Wall Street’s consensus estimates. A handful of analysts raised their price targets for Fastly stock as a result, boosting investor sentiment further.
Shares were up by 23.5% as of 1:50 p.m. ET on Thursday.
Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »
Image source: Getty Images.
A solid start to 2025
Fastly reported revenue of $144.5 million in the first quarter, up 8% from the year-ago quarter and ahead of analysts’ consensus estimate of $138.2 million. The company’s adjusted loss of $0.05 per share was worse than its loss of $0.04 in the year-ago quarter, but still beat Wall Street’s consensus estimate of a loss of $0.06.
CEO Todd Nightingale said in prepared remarks, “Fastly outperformed our revenue and operating-loss guidance in the first quarter, delivering positive free cash flow.” The company had $8.2 million of free cash flow at the end of the quarter.
In addition to the better-than-expected results, investors were also happy to see that the company raised its full-year revenue guidance to $590 million, up from its previous outlook of $580 million, both at the midpoint. Many companies have cut their outlook for the year or removed guidance amid tariff and economic uncertainty, so Fastly’s raised guidance stands in contrast to the current trend.
The latest results prompted a Piper Sandler analyst to raise the stock’s price target from $6 to $7, and a Morgan Stanley analyst raised the target from $7 to $8.
There’s still a lot to prove
Fastly delivered solid results in the first quarter, but the company still has a lot to prove. Revenue growth needs to pick up substantially, and the company needs to continue reducing its losses and moving toward profitability before the stock can look compelling.
Despite the quarterly results, I wouldn’t jump on the bandwagon for buying this stock until it’s very clear that the company can grow sales at a healthy pace and its losses have narrowed significantly.
Should you invest $1,000 in Fastly right now?
Before you buy stock in Fastly, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Fastly wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $623,103!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $717,471!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 909% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 162% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of May 5, 2025
Chris Neiger has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Fastly. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
