Kettle Hill Bets on Braze With 747,000-Share Initiation

Source The Motley Fool

Key Points

  • Kettle Hill bought 747,715 shares of Braze.

  • The Braze position represented 5.72% of 13F reportable assets under management at quarter-end.

  • The firm's Braze holdings were valued at $25.64 million as of quarter-end.

  • 10 stocks we like better than Braze ›

What happened

According to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing dated Feb. 17, 2026, Kettle Hill Capital Management, LLC, reported a new holding in Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE). The fund acquired 747,715 shares, with an estimated transaction value of $22.15 million based on the average share price during the quarter. The quarter-end value of the stake totaled $25.64 million.

What else to know

  • This was a new position for Kettle Hill, representing 5.72% of the fund’s reportable U.S. equity assets as of Dec. 31, 2025.
  • Top five holdings after the filing:
    • Elastic NV: $29.69 million (6.6% of AUM)
    • Unity Software: $29.06 million (6.5% of AUM)
    • RH: $28.87 million (6.4% of AUM)
    • Penn Entertainment: $26.16 million (5.8% of AUM)
    • Wynn Resorts: $25.89 million (5.8% of AUM)
  • As of Feb. 16, 2026, Braze shares were priced at $17.60, down 57.6% over the past year, underperforming the S&P 500 by 70.82 percentage points.

Company Overview

MetricValue
Price (as of market close 2/16/26)$17.60
Market Capitalization$2.4 billion
Revenue (TTM)$693.41 million
Net Income (TTM)($116.88 million)

Company Snapshot

  • Offers a comprehensive customer engagement platform, including data ingestion, segmentation, predictive analytics, personalization, orchestration tools, and reporting solutions for brands seeking to optimize consumer interactions.
  • Serves a global client base of enterprises and consumer brands across industries, targeting organizations that require advanced digital marketing, customer segmentation, and cross-channel communication capabilities.
  • Headquartered in New York City, Braze employs 1,699 people and was incorporated in 2011, operating in the software application sector.

Braze, Inc. is a technology company specializing in customer engagement software, enabling brands to deliver personalized and data-driven messaging across digital channels. With nearly $700 million in TTM revenue and a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, Braze leverages a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model to drive predictable, recurring revenue from enterprise clients. The company's competitive edge lies in its robust orchestration and analytics capabilities, supporting clients in building sophisticated, multi-channel customer journeys at scale.

What this transaction means for investors

Kettle Hill initiated a substantial stake in Braze in the fourth quarter, with the stock taking up position No. 7 in the capital management company’s nearly $450 million portfolio. With just over $2 billion in market capitalization, Braze is a mid-cap software company focused on customer engagement and multichannel marketing.

The software sector has seen pronounced selling recently, likely due to market fears that artificial intelligence could render many software products obsolete or unnecessary. Yet the sell-off has become so pronounced that some market watchers are calling it overdone, warning investors not to overlook company fundamentals in the rush to offload positions. According to TipRanks, the stock is rated a strong buy among the 16 analysts covering it, with an average price target of $42.73, more than double where the stock trades today.

Braze will release its financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2026, ended Jan. 31, 2026, after market close on Tuesday, March 24.

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Sarah Sidlow has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Braze and Unity Software. The Motley Fool recommends Elastic and RH. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Disclaimer: For information purposes only. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
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