Horizon Technology Finance (NASDAQ:HRZN) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.61 EPS

Horizon Technology Finance (NASDAQ:HRZN) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The investment management company reported ($0.43) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.61), FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $24.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 million. Horizon Technology Finance had a net margin of 5.27% and a return on equity of 11.15%.

Here are the key takeaways from Horizon Technology Finance’s conference call:

• Pipeline and portfolio expanded: Horizon funded nine investments totaling $98 million and ended its fourth consecutive quarter of debt portfolio growth at $650 million. Its committed, approved, and awarded backlog rose to $351 million, though many commitments depend on companies meeting milestones.
• Income covered the declared distribution: Third-quarter net investment income was $0.19 per share, above the $0.18 in quarterly distributions declared for January through March 2027. However, NII was below $0.32 per share a year earlier.
• Credit stress drove a sharp NAV decline: NAV fell to $5.56 per share from $6.23 in the prior quarter, mainly due to write-downs on stressed investments; management said most, if not all, of the credits in active workout processes are on non-accrual.
• Strong liquidity and share repurchases: The company reported $211 million of available liquidity and net leverage of 0.82x, and repurchased just over 2 million shares at an average $4.90 during the quarter.
• Venture market remains uneven: Management cited strong overall venture investment, largely concentrated in AI, while exits for non-AI companies remain muted. It expects lower loan prepayment activity in Q4 than in Q3 and described the origination pipeline as strong but fluid.

Horizon Technology Finance Price Performance

NASDAQ:HRZN traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $3.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 703,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 818,455. The company has a market cap of $265.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 1.00. Horizon Technology Finance has a one year low of $3.77 and a one year high of $6.85. The business’s 50-day moving average is $4.49 and its 200-day moving average is $4.77.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRZN has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Horizon Technology Finance from $4.25 to $4.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Weiss Ratings downgraded Horizon Technology Finance from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Compass Point initiated coverage on Horizon Technology Finance in a report on Thursday, August 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $5.50 price target for the company. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Horizon Technology Finance from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Horizon Technology Finance from $5.00 to $4.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.00.

About Horizon Technology Finance

Horizon Technology Finance Corporation (NASDAQ: HRZN) is a specialty finance company that has elected to be regulated as a business development company. It provides secured venture loans to development-stage companies backed by venture capital or private equity investors.

The company primarily finances businesses in the technology, life sciences, healthcare information and sustainability sectors. Its lending solutions are designed to support needs such as product development, commercialization, acquisitions, working capital and other corporate purposes.