Red Violet just delivered the clearest signal it has given investors all year — a Q1 earnings beat that landed after the close on May 6, with the stock already up 6% on the week heading into the print.
The numbers were unambiguous. Adjusted EPS came in at $0.46 against a $0.32 estimate — a 44% beat. Revenue of $25.83M topped the $24.63M consensus by $1.2M. The company's full-year 2025 result had already demonstrated the growth trajectory: revenue rose from $75.2M to $90.3M and net income nearly doubled from $7M to $13.2M. Q1 2026 carries that momentum forward. RDVT's EPS surprise factor score ranks in the 79th percentile — consistent with a company that has made a habit of clearing the bar. Analysts' consensus mean target at $63.50 implies roughly 57% upside from the current $40.42 close, though those targets — last formally updated in April 2026 from B. Riley's October 2025 raise to $62 — may already be under revision after tonight's beat.
The Street's existing coverage is thin but uniformly bullish. B. Riley reiterated Buy with a $62 target in October 2025. Lake Street initiated at Buy in August 2025. No analyst carries a Sell rating. The valuation picture is reasonable for the growth on offer: EV/EBITDA on forward estimates is approximately 14x, and EV/EBIT near 27x — not cheap, but consistent with a profitable, cash-generating SaaS-adjacent data company in growth mode. The EV figure available in the data reflects 2025 figures and may be stale relative to today's market cap; treat the multiples as indicative rather than precise.
Positioning heading into the print was defensive but not aggressive. Short interest at 5.2% of the float is real but not extreme, and the position barely moved over the past week — shares short ticked up just 0.06%. Cost to borrow dropped sharply, from nearly 3.4% on April 28 down to 0.62% by May 5, suggesting shorts are not expanding and borrow pressure has eased. Availability is wide; the lending market here is loose, not stressed. The ORTEX short score of 46 is mid-range, well below any warning-zone reading. Options positioning was the one area of caution: the put/call ratio held near 1.52, above its 20-day average of 1.16, pointing to investors hedging ahead of results. With the beat now confirmed, those hedges may unwind.
The ownership base reflects a stock that attracts engaged institutional holders. Wasatch Advisors added 110,421 shares in Q1 2026, lifting their stake to 6.46% — one of the more meaningful additions in recent quarters. Vanguard and BlackRock each hold around 6.4-6.8%. CEO Derek Dubner holds roughly 3.7% of the company. The insider picture shows coordinated December 2025 sales by Dubner, CFO MacLachlan, President Reilly, and CIO Dell — all at prices around $55.87 — likely pre-planned disposals given the simultaneous nature. The stock now trades well below those December exit prices, which adds some context to the rally: insiders sold near highs and the stock retraced before this week's move.
What to watch next: RDVT is scheduled to present at the Needham Technology Conference (May 12-14) and the B. Riley Institutional Investor Conference (May 20-21) — both opportunities for management to address the Q1 beat and any forward-year guidance revision. Whether analyst targets get formally lifted to reflect tonight's beat and the pace of revenue acceleration will set the near-term re-rating narrative.
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