The shares of Veeva Systems (VEEV) are climbing after the company reported stronger than expected first quarter results last night. Bank of America Merrill Lynch responded to the news by upgrading the stock to Buy from Neutral, while a number of other firms raised their price targets on the name. Veeva develops software for life science enterprises.

VAULT SEEN AS MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR OPPORTUNITY: The 27% billings growth that Veeva has reported in the last two quarters has made Merrill Lynch analyst Brad Sills more confident that the company's cloud product, Vault, will eventually become a multi-billion dollar revenue generator for the company. Veeva can obtain additional revenue from the many pharma companies that are already using the product as well as life science start-up companies, Sills believes. Furthermore, cross selling opportunities, along with new deals in Europe and Japan, should enable the company's Commercial unit to grow around 15%, according to Sills. The analyst hiked his price target on the shares to $70 from $48.

OTHER TARGET INCREASES: Canaccord analyst Richard Davis also raised his price target on Veeva to $70 from $48. Although the stock is not cheap, Veeva is in the top 10% of companies tracked by Davis when it comes to "execution, hitting numbers, sustaining growth, and... profitability," the analyst stated. He kept a Buy rating on the shares. JMP Securities analyst Rishi Jaluna raised the price target on the stock to $70 from $55, saying that the company delivered "strong" results. Jaluna kept an Outperform rating on the shares.

PRICE ACTION: In morning trading, Veeva rose 6.5% to $65.80. Over the last three months, the stock is up nearly 50%.