Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Posted by Brian Himes on Oct 20th, 2026

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI – Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

NVMI has been the topic of a number of other reports. Zacks Research downgraded Nova from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on Nova from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Nova from $494.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Evercore set a $475.00 target price on Nova in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $499.44.

View Our Latest Analysis on NVMI

Nova Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NVMI opened at $319.10 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $367.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $446.36. Nova has a fifty-two week low of $266.43 and a fifty-two week high of $615.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.79.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.10. Nova had a net margin of 28.84% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The firm had revenue of $254.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $250.33 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.20 EPS. Nova’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Nova will post 9.89 EPS for the current year.

Nova declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, September 2nd that permits the company to buy back $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nova

In other Nova news, insider Shay Wolfing sold 3,864 shares of Nova stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.28, for a total transaction of $1,403,713.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 21,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,777,461.52. The trade was a 15.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gabriel Waisman sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.27, for a total value of $513,405.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 27,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,314,535.78. The trade was a 5.22% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nova in the second quarter worth about $15,675,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Nova by 51.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,332 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,224,000 after acquiring an additional 4,844 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Nova by 94.3% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 27,115 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,077,000 after acquiring an additional 13,160 shares during the period. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Nova during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,647,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Nova by 51.6% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,444 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,577,000 after acquiring an additional 4,238 shares during the period. 82.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nova Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ: NVMI) develops and supplies metrology and process-control solutions for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Its systems help chipmakers measure and control critical dimensions, film thickness, material properties and other characteristics during the production of integrated circuits.

The company’s product portfolio includes optical and X-ray metrology systems, chemical metrology solutions, and related software and analytics tools. These technologies are used in multiple stages of semiconductor fabrication, including front-end wafer processing and advanced packaging, to support process development, yield improvement and manufacturing control.

Founded in 1993, Nova is headquartered in Rehovot, Israel, and serves semiconductor manufacturers and other industry customers through operations and support activities across North America, Europe and Asia.