Blaize Holdings (BZAI) Gets $9 Price Target From B. Riley Despite 79% YTD Drop

Blaize Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:BZAI) is experiencing renewed market optimism following a challenging year, driven by positive analyst coverage and strategic advancements. Despite a significant 79% year-to-date decline, BZAI shares are attracting attention due to a bullish outlook from B. Riley and recent institutional investment activity.

The renewed interest stems from B. Riley initiating coverage with a “Buy” rating and a $9 price target, suggesting a potential 184% upside from current levels. The firm's analysis highlights Blaize's unique position in the nascent enterprise artificial intelligence adoption cycle.

Specifically, the analyst points to Blaize's edge-optimized graph streaming processors and software stack as complementary to higher-power data center GPU training investments, offering a lower incremental cost solution. This positioning is viewed as advantageous as the demand for edge computing solutions continues to grow.

Adding to the positive sentiment, several institutional investors have recently established or increased their positions in Blaize. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. acquired 318,574 shares, representing a 0.31% stake, valued at approximately $644,000.

HighTower Advisors LLC took a position with 39,963 shares, valued at around $81,000. Quarry LP invested more substantially, purchasing 675,464 shares, equating to a 0.66% stake, valued at approximately $1.36 million. These institutional moves suggest growing confidence in Blaize's long-term potential.

Blaize has also been actively expanding its market presence through strategic partnerships and contracts. The company is collaborating with the Chungbuk Institute of Science and Technology (CBIST) in South Korea to develop a Digital Innovation Hub for smart city solutions, providing core technologies in AI, edge computing, IoT, and data analytics.

Additionally, Blaize partnered with BroadSat Technologies to create AI-powered edge computing platforms for telecom and broadcast infrastructure, transforming traditional towers into intelligent compute nodes.

Further demonstrating its growth trajectory, Blaize secured a $56 million contract to deploy its edge AI platform across more than 250,000 intelligent surveillance endpoints in Southeast Asia, with deployments spanning from Q2 2025 through 2026. A $120 million agreement to scale energy-efficient edge AI across Asia-Pacific further solidifies its presence in the region.

Despite these positive developments, Blaize's recent financial performance reflects the early stage of its growth. For fiscal year 2024, net revenue decreased to $1.6 million from $3.9 million in 2023, primarily from strategic consulting fees.

The net loss improved to $61.2 million from $87.6 million in the previous year, while the adjusted EBITDA loss increased to $43.3 million compared to $30.3 million in 2023. As of December 31, 2024, cash and cash equivalents stood at $50.2 million. Second quarter 2025 results showed a net loss of $0.28 per share, with revenue of $1.98 million.

Blaize's inclusion in the S&P Global BMI Index in June 2025, which led to a notable 14.11% increase in pre-market trading, further underscores its growing market recognition.

While Blaize Holdings faces the challenges inherent in a company in its early stages, the combination of bullish analyst coverage, strategic institutional investments, and significant contract wins suggests a potential turnaround.

Markets will be closely watching the company's ability to execute its strategic initiatives and improve its financial performance in the coming quarters to determine if this positive momentum can be sustained.