Not a good buy right now for an impatient buyer: price is extended (RSI~71) and sitting just below resistance (R1 ~337.6), while near-term pattern stats skew negative for the next month (-5.17%).
With earnings on 2026-02-11 (after hours) and options IV elevated, the risk/reward of chasing pre-market strength is unattractive.
Prefer buying on a pullback closer to the 323 pivot (or better risk/reward near 308 support); at 333 pre-market, upside to resistance is limited relative to downside to support.
Momentum: MACD histogram is negative (-0.0723) but contracting (bearish momentum is fading), indicating the uptrend is losing some immediate thrust rather than accelerating.
RSI: RSI_6 = 70.97 (effectively overbought/extended), which increases the odds of a near-term pause or pullback.
Levels: Pivot ~323.07 (key near-term support); resistance R1 ~337.58 then R2 ~346.55. With price ~333.2, upside to R1 is modest vs. downside back to pivot/support.
Probabilistic pattern read: similar-candle study implies small near-term upside (next day/week) but weaker 1-month expectation (-5.17%), aligning with “extended/late-entry” risk.
Options Data
Bullish
Open Interest Put-Call Ratio
Bullish
Option Volume Put-Call Ratio
Positioning: Put/Call Open Interest ratio = 0.3 (call-heavy, generally bullish sentiment/positioning).
Flow: Option volume is essentially zero today (no real-time confirmation from traders despite bullish OI skew).
Volatility: 30D IV ~38.72 vs historical vol ~32.85; IV percentile ~90.44 (options are priced richly vs most of the past year), consistent with a catalyst window (earnings).
Interpretation: Sentiment/positioning leans bullish, but elevated IV + lack of volume confirmation suggests limited edge in buying shares right ahead of earnings at an extended technical level.
Technical Summary
Sell
3
Buy
10
Positive Catalysts
could support strategic growth narrative.
Neutral/Negative Catalysts
Earnings catalyst risk: QDEC 2025 earnings on 2026-02-11 after hours; with elevated IV and an extended RSI, a miss/soft guide could trigger a sharper pullback.
Price is near resistance (R1 ~337.6); limited immediate upside vs. meaningful downside to pivot/support.
Statistical pattern outlook shows a negative bias over the next month (-5.17%).
Trading trends: Hedge funds and insiders are neutral (no strong accumulation signal).
Politicians/congress: no recent congress trading data available (no supportive “influential buyer” signal).
Financial Performance
Latest reported quarter: 2025/Q3.
Revenue: $271.6M, ~-0.02% YoY (flat to slightly down; not a growth print).
Net income: $27.7M, -12.23% YoY (profitability declined).
EPS: $2.35, -12.31% YoY (earnings contraction).
Gross margin: 45.17%, +1.03% YoY (a bright spot—margin improved even as earnings fell, implying other costs/operating factors weighed).
Overall: mixed-to-soft growth trend (flat sales, declining earnings) heading into an earnings event, which reduces urgency to buy at an extended price.
Growth
Profitability
Efficiency
Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends
The only provided analyst item appears mismatched to this company: it references Deutsche Bank downgrading “Kainos Group,” not Kadant (KAI). Based on the supplied dataset, there are no clearly relevant recent Kadant rating/price-target changes to infer a Wall Street trend.
Wall Street pros (from available context): strategic acquisition could be viewed positively; technical trend still broadly up.
Wall Street cons (from available context): latest quarter showed EPS and net income declines; near-term earnings event adds uncertainty with the stock technically extended.
Wall Street analysts forecast KAI stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for KAI is 360 USD with a low forecast of 340 USD and a high forecast of 380 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
3 Analyst Rating
Wall Street analysts forecast KAI stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for KAI is 360 USD with a low forecast of 340 USD and a high forecast of 380 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
2 Buy
1 Hold
0 Sell
Moderate Buy
Current: 330.250
Low
340
Averages
360
High
380
Current: 330.250
Low
340
Averages
360
High
380
Deutsche Bank
Tintin Stormont
Buy
to
Hold
downgrade
$1,030
AI Analysis
2025-12-09
Reason
Deutsche Bank
Tintin Stormont
Price Target
$1,030
AI Analysis
2025-12-09
downgrade
Buy
to
Hold
Reason
Deutsche Bank analyst Tintin Stormont downgraded Kainos Group to Hold from Buy with a 1,030 GBp price target.
DA Davidson
Neutral
maintain
$275 -> $300
2025-08-04
Reason
DA Davidson
Price Target
$275 -> $300
2025-08-04
maintain
Neutral
Reason
DA Davidson raised the firm's price target on Kadant to $300 from $275 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. The company reported better than guided Q2 results and maintained their full-year outlook, and the firm sees less risk to the guide with incremental FX and acquisition benefits, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
Unlock Full Analyst Thesis, Get the complete breakdown of rating reason for KAI