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Penguin Solutions stock jumps 18% as AI demand, Nvidia deal drive analyst upgrades

Penguin Solutions Inc. (PENG) shares surged 18% on Wednesday after the company delivered stronger-than-expected fiscal third-quarter results.

It has prompted Wall Street analysts to raise their price targets as demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure and memory products continued to strengthen.

The stock has gained nearly 221% so far in 2026, reflecting investor optimism around the company’s exposure to AI infrastructure.

Following the earnings report, analysts at Citizens and Stifel said Penguin’s improving financial profile and expanding AI business could support further upside.

Analysts raise price targets after earnings beat

Citizens raised its price target on Penguin Solutions to $85 from $65 while maintaining an Outperform rating, implying approximately 36% upside from Tuesday’s closing price.

The brokerage said Penguin’s investments in AI-driven product development, together with its exit from non-core businesses, position the company for stronger long-term growth.

Citizens also expects the company’s financial profile to improve following what it described as a transitional fiscal 2026, supported by a higher-quality business mix.

Stifel also became more optimistic after the earnings report, increasing its price target to $75 from $66 while maintaining a Buy rating.

The brokerage said Penguin’s stronger-than-expected fiscal third-quarter performance was primarily driven by better-than-expected results in its memory business.

Stifel added that its confidence in the company’s outlook is supported by an improved fiscal 2026 forecast and expectations for continued momentum into fiscal 2027, driven by sustained memory demand and expansion of Penguin’s AI Factory Platform.

AI infrastructure and memory demand drive record quarter

Penguin Solutions reported record fiscal third-quarter revenue of $479 million, up 48% from a year earlier. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.84.

According to Fiscal.ai data, analysts had expected earnings per share of $0.56 on revenue of $421 million, making the company’s results comfortably ahead of Wall Street expectations.

Chief Executive Officer Kash Shaikh attributed the performance to accelerating demand across the company’s AI business.

“We are seeing very strong AI-driven customer demand for memory and AI infrastructure solutions. As inference and agentic AI workloads become more persistent and context-rich, memory is increasingly becoming one of the primary performance and scalability bottlenecks,” he added.

The company said Integrated Memory revenue more than doubled compared with the same period last year, while demand for its AI infrastructure offerings continued to gain traction.

Company raises outlook and expands NVIDIA partnership

Following the stronger-than-expected quarter, Penguin Solutions raised its fiscal 2026 guidance for the second consecutive quarter.

The company now expects revenue to grow 22% year over year, plus or minus 2%, while increasing its earnings per share forecast to $2.60 from the previous estimate of $2.15, plus or minus $0.05.

The upgraded guidance reflects management’s confidence that demand for AI infrastructure and memory products will remain strong.

Earlier this year, Penguin also strengthened its position within the AI infrastructure ecosystem by becoming an NVIDIA AI Factory Specialized Partner.

The designation places Penguin among a select group of NVIDIA Partner Network solution providers that have completed NVIDIA’s training requirements and demonstrated expertise in designing, deploying and operating full-stack NVIDIA-based AI factory infrastructure for enterprise and hyperscale customers.

The expanded partnership further supports Penguin’s strategy of growing its AI Factory Platform business as enterprises continue investing in artificial intelligence infrastructure to support increasingly demanding AI workloads.

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