BofA upgrades Camtek, cuts Coherent, MACOM Technology, Lumentum
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Investment firm Bank of America made a number of ratings changes in the semiconductor space on Tuesday, upgrading Camtek (NASDAQ:CAMT) and downgrading Coherent (NYSE:COHR), MACOM Technology (NASDAQ:MTSI) and Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) for varying reasons.
Analyst Vivek Arya raises his rating on Camtek (CAMT) to buy from neutral and boosted the per-share price target to $50 from $30, noting that the company is benefiting from increased advanced packaging penetration (roughly 60% of sales) and continued "outgrowth" in wafer fab equipment, especially compound semiconductors, which makes up roughly 15% of sales. 
"Given increased exposure to the above growth markets, we see potential for multiple re-rating toward larger front-end peers," Arya wrote in an investor note.
Camtek (CAMT) shares rose 1.4% in pre-market trading.
Conversely, Arya downgraded Coherent (COHR) and MACOM Technology (MTSI) to neutral and Lumentum (LITE) to underperform, noting "sluggish" telecom spending, stretched valuations and "overstated" benefits from artificial intelligence. 
Coherent (COHR), MACOM Technology (MTSI) and Lumentum (LITE) shares fell 3.9%, 1.5% and 5%, respectively, in pre-market trading.
Aside from the ratings changes, Arya added Marvell Technology (MRVL) to the firm's US 1 list and removed Global Foundries (GFS) from the list.
He also raised his estimates on Nvidia (NVDA), as he now sees the firm earning $11.05 per share in 2024, up from a prior view of $10.01 per share. He also boosted his price targets on Nvidia (NVDA), Marvell (MRVL) and ON (ON), to $550, $80 and $120, up from $500, $75 and $110, respectively. 
Analysts are largely cautious on Camtek (CAMT). It has a HOLD rating from Seeking Alpha authors, while Wall Street analysts rate it a BUY. Conversely, Seeking Alpha's quant system, which consistently beats the market, rates CAMT a HOLD.
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