Stifel on Thursday increased its price target for Generac Holdings (NYSE: GNRC) to $235.00 from $210.00 and left its Buy rating intact. The brokerage said the higher target reflects a change in the valuation timeframe - applying a 14-15x multiple to estimated 2027 EBITDA instead of 2026 EBITDA - and cited anticipated strength across Generac’s product lines through 2026 and into 2027.
Market performance to date has been strong for the power equipment maker. The stock has gained 57.65% year-to-date and is up 41.02% over the last 12 months. At the same time, current valuation metrics show a marked difference from the multiple Stifel used in its outlook; the company presently trades at an EV/EBITDA multiple of 29.87x, a gap that the brokerage’s fair-value comparison suggests may indicate the shares are priced above intrinsic estimates.
Stifel’s report identifies two core drivers behind its positive view. First, the residential products business is contributing rising sales, supporting top-line momentum. Second, the Commercial & Industrial (C&I) segment is expected to see robust growth, with the firm specifically flagging orders tied to data centers as an important catalyst for that expansion. Stifel noted that Generac’s guidance for 2026 aligns with the brokerage’s above-consensus forecast and that continued gains in data center-related sales are projected to carry growth into 2027.
Those forward-looking assessments arrive against a backdrop of recent quarterly results that fell short of analyst expectations. For the fourth quarter of 2025, Generac reported earnings per share of $1.61, below the forecast of $1.77, and revenue of $1.1 billion, missing a projected $1.16 billion. Despite these shortfalls in the reported metrics, the company’s stock moved higher in pre-market trading, a reaction the market appears to be attributing to optimism around strategic updates and prospective growth avenues, though specific catalysts were not detailed.
The combination of an elevated current EV/EBITDA multiple, a revised valuation horizon in Stifel’s model, and recent missed quarterly targets illustrates the mixed signals investors are weighing: sizeable recent price appreciation and strong segment-level prospects on one hand, and near-term earnings and revenue shortfalls on the other. The outlook from Stifel leans on data center demand and continued residential strength to underpin growth into 2027, while market valuation and recent results leave room for differing interpretations of near-term performance.