Morgan Stanley has revised its forward price target for BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) to $68.00, down from a previous $73.00, while continuing to carry an Overweight recommendation on the financial software provider. The stock was trading at $44.33, implying meaningful potential upside to the broker's updated target, and carries a market capitalization of $2.64 billion.
The firm pointed to several favorable operating metrics in its assessment. Contract revenue performance obligations - commonly abbreviated as cRPO - expanded by 13% year-over-year. Trailing twelve-month billings rose by 9%, and annual recurring revenue grew by 10%. Those metrics sit alongside reported total revenue growth of 7.36% over the last twelve months, underscoring a steady expansion in the company’s top-line profile.
Morgan Stanley also noted that BlackLine’s net revenue retention improved by two percentage points, reaching 105%. The broker interpreted that lift in net revenue retention as a sign that the company’s turnaround efforts are translating into healthier underlying growth dynamics.
Despite trimming the price objective, Morgan Stanley retained BlackLine as a "Top Pick" in its coverage universe. The firm cited multiple pathways by which investors could realize gains - including the possibility of idiosyncratic acceleration in the company’s growth or the emergence of strategic optionality - and therefore left its positive stance intact.
On the company side, BlackLine released its fourth-quarter 2025 results that modestly exceeded consensus estimates. Reported earnings per share were $0.63, outpacing the expected $0.59, representing a 6.78% surprise to the upside. Revenue for the quarter came in at $183.18 million versus a forecast of $182.98 million, a slight beat that aligns with the firm's ability to outperform street projections in the period.
There were no recent announcements concerning mergers or acquisitions from BlackLine, and the broker noted that analyst coverage had not seen recent upgrades or downgrades. Those points complete the current public signal set on the company's near-term strategic activity and the analyst community's stance.
For investors and market observers, the combination of an unchanged Overweight rating and a lowered price target reflects a nuanced view: the firm acknowledges incremental improvements in retention and recurring revenue while tempering its near-term valuation outlook. The market reaction to the target revision will depend on how investors weigh those improving operating metrics against the reduction in the broker's valuation case.