From Tech Trader Daily:
Cree (CREE), which yesterday posted disappointing results for the September quarter, and lower-than-expected guidance for the December quarter, this morning has been hit with a flurry of analyst rating reductions.UBS stayed Swiss:
- Bank of America/Merrill Lynch analyst Steve Milunovich cut his view to Neutral from Buy, with a price target of $54, just a buck over yesterday’s close at $53. “Other than margins managing to surprise to the upside, pretty much everything that could go wrong in the quarter did go wrong, in our opinion,” he writes. “Problems could linger for another six months, top-line re-acceleration could be up to a year away, and investor confidence in Cree has very likely taken a hit.”...MORE
UBS Maintains a 'Neutral' Rating on Cree, Inc. (CREE); Lower LED Chip Sales Continuing Near TermWhile:
Morgan Joseph Maintains a 'Buy' on Cree, Inc. (CREE); F1Q11 Revenue Light, EPS Slightly Better, Growth Potential IntactBoth via StreetInsider who also had a pre-earnings-release roundup:
- Kaufman - maintains a Hold rating and $58 price target. Calls the stock "fairly valued." Firm looking for Q1 EPS of 50c on
sales of $274.4 million.
- Cantor Fitzgerald - maintains Buy rating and $95 price target. Expects to see an "in-line or slightly better" quarter citing demand which "remains strong in the general illuminations market which we estimate accounts for 75% of revenues." Sees Q1 EPS of $0.60 on sales of $281.5 million.
- Deutsche Bank - reiterates Hold and $63 price target. Deutsche Bank notes that Cree's exposure to the chip market will likely hurt results, however will not impact the company's "XLamp sales as much as the bears think." Sees quarterly EPS of 59c on sales of $277 million.
- Avian - upgrades the stock from Neutral to Positive, target moves from $81 to $83.
