Reiterating Buy on CACI: ARKA Acquisition Expands Classified Capabilities and Supports Upside to Target Price

Analyst Mariana Perez Mora of Bank of America Securities maintained a Buy rating on Caci International, retaining the price target of $670.00.

Mariana Perez Mora has given his Buy rating due to a combination of factors tied to CACI’s strategic acquisition of ARKA Group and the resulting financial and competitive positioning. He views the $2.6bn purchase price, at roughly 16x next-twelve-month EBITDA after accounting for tax benefits, as reasonable in light of ARKA’s strong double‑digit growth, 20%+ margins, durable competitive advantages in its technologies and customer relationships, and a sizable pipeline of over $2bn in expected follow‑on and sole‑source work. The transaction materially deepens CACI’s presence in classified space intelligence, sensors, and space operations, areas he considers structurally attractive and supportive of long-term revenue visibility. He also notes that the deal is slated to be neutral to adjusted EPS and free cash flow in its first full fiscal year and turn accretive by the second, supporting his positive earnings outlook.

Mariana Perez Mora’s rating is based on his view that ARKA meaningfully broadens CACI’s capabilities across sensing, advanced data processing/AI for classified missions, and optical and directed-energy technologies, thereby enhancing its value proposition to national security and intelligence customers. He highlights that ARKA’s revenue base is predominantly derived from classified customers and anchored by multiyear franchise contracts, giving CACI expanded access to high-barrier-to-entry programs across the Intelligence Community with limited overlap to its existing work. While he acknowledges that leverage will temporarily rise to about 4.3x, he takes comfort in CACI’s history of quickly reducing debt after acquisitions and management’s plan to bring leverage back to the low‑3x range within roughly six quarters of closing. With a target price of $670 versus a current share price of $550 and no negative changes to the underlying model, he sees attractive upside potential and therefore reiterates a Buy recommendation.

According to TipRanks, Perez Mora is a 5-star analyst with an average return of 45.2% and a 69.91% success rate. Perez Mora covers the Technology sector, focusing on stocks such as Caci International, Palantir Technologies, and OSI Systems.