Workday Stock Is Ripping Higher Wednesday: Here's Why

Workday Inc WDAY shares are trading higher Wednesday after the company reported better-than-expected financial results, raised subscription revenue guidance and announced a buyback.

What Happened: Workday said fiscal third-quarter revenue increased 20.5% year-over-year to $1.6 billion, which beat average analyst estimates of $1.59 billion, according to Benzinga Pro. The company reported quarterly adjusted earnings of 99 cents per share, which beat estimates of 84 cents per share.

"There is no question that the current macro environment presents increased uncertainty, but, due to the great work of our employees and our continued innovation, we are confident in the long-term opportunity and our ability to navigate the road ahead," said Aneel Bhusri, co-founder, co-CEO and chairman of Workday.

Workday raised the low end of its fiscal 2023 subscription revenue guidance. The company now expects full-year subscription revenue to be between $5.555 billion and $5.557 billion.

Workday's board also approved a new share repurchase program with authorization to purchase up to $500 million of its common stock.

See Also: Looking At Workday's Recent Unusual Options Activity

Analyst Assessment: Multiple analysts adjusted price targets on the stock following the company's quarterly results. 

• Barclays analyst Raimo Lenschow maintained Workday with an Overweight and raised the price target from $198 to $203.
• Mizuho analyst Siti Panigrahi maintained Workday with a Buy and lowered the price target from $220 to $200.
• JPMorgan analyst Mark Murphy maintained Workday with an Overweight and lowered the price target from $235 to $223.
• Baird analyst Mark Marcon maintained Workday with an Outperform and lowered the price target from $235 to $223.

WDAY Price Action: Workday has a 52-week high of $272.49 and a 52-week low of $128.72.

The stock was up 10.5% at $158.58 at time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo: courtesy of Workday.