Investors looking for exposure to the “internet of things” — the concept of linking physical objects to the internet and cloud — should consider buying shares of Samsara. Analyst Kash Rangan upgraded Samsara , which provides tracking systems for vehicle fleets and agricultural equipment, to buy from neutral. He also hiked his price target on the stock to $27 from $16, implying upside of 60% from Thursday’s close. The upgrade came a day after Samsara posted fourth-quarter results that beat expectations. The company’s revenue of $186.6 million beat a StreetAccount consensus estimate of $171.6 million. Meanwhile, its 2-cent per share loss was smaller than forecast. Rangan pointed out this marks the fourth consecutive quarter in which Samsara’s revenue outperforms expectations. He also cited several reasons to be bullish on the stock: “1) Management’s commentary around breakeven [free cash flow] in F4Q23, 2) Continued customer resilience despite macro conditions, and 3) Easing supply chain constraints benefiting working capital and customers acquisition of additional assets.” “We would note that IOT has continued to screen well across the GS Framework for Investing in Software … with the only change to our thesis now being IOT’s ability to accelerate their path to positive FCF without compromising top-line growth,” Rangan said. Samsara CFO Dominic Phillips said during a call with analysts that the company expects to reach breakeven free cash flow in the fourth quarter. Samsara went public in December 2021 but tumbled more than 50% in 2022. The stock has been on fire in 2023, rallying more than 60%. It also surged about 20% on Friday. IOT YTD mountain IOT in 2023 — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed reporting.
