JPMorgan analyst Paul Coster raised his price target for Verint Systems (VRNT) to $63 from $59 and reiterates an Overweight rating on the shares. The company's Q4 results came in above expectations and its commentary remains "very upbeat," largely owing to cloud acceleration as well as traction with the "land and expand" strategy within Customer Engagement and visibility from large cyber projects, Coster tells investors in a research note. The analyst favors shares of Verint over near-peer Nice Systems (NICE). He reiterates an Overweight rating on the former "with conviction."

Verint announced an eight-digit order from one of the world's largest retailers to increase customer experience, or CX, automation in their contact center. Verint was awarded the contract based on its ability to deliver artificial intelligence, or AI, business outcomes with its differentiated open cloud platform and large team of AI-powered bots. The retailer will deploy the Verint Open Platform in the cloud to increase CX automation in several business units. The contract was on Verint's Q1 roadmap and is being recorded as a bundled Software as a Service booking with a 39-month term.