12 Semiconductor Stocks Morgan Stanley Is Watching This Week

It’s a huge week for semiconductor stocks, with no less than 13 major companies reporting first-quarter earnings. Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore gave his take Monday on the companies that are reporting and how traders should be playing the stocks.

Here’s a rundown of what Moore had to say.

• Sensata Technologies ST reports Tuesday before the market open. Moore said he expects modest upside to consensus estimates thanks to stability in Sensata’s auto end market. Morgan Stanley has an Equal Weight rating and $55 price target.
• Texas Instruments Incorporated TXN reports Tuesday after the market close. Moore said he expects an in-line quarter, which could potentially trigger a modest relief rally given recent market concerns. Morgan Stanley has an Equal Weight rating and $101 price target.
• Inphi Corporation IPHI reports Tuesday after the market close. Moore said he expects Q1 to represent the trough of the current downturn for Inphi, but said management’s guidance for an aggressive bounce back throughout the rest of the year could limit the stock’s upside. Morgan Stanley has an Equal Weight rating and $34 price target.
• Amphenol Corporation APH reports Wednesday before the market open. Moore said he expects earnings to be slightly below consensus expectations over the next two quarters, but the stock’s recent sell-off has created a more attractive risk-reward balance than prior to previous earnings reports. Morgan Stanley has an Equal Weight rating and $90 price target.
• Xilinx, Inc. XLNX reports Wednesday after the market close. Moore said the current quarter likely won’t wow the market given deceleration in cryptocurrency ASICs, Chinese trade pressures and other headwinds, but Xilinx is still gaining a large share of new design wins. Morgan Stanley has an Overweight rating and $78 price target.
• Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD reports Wednesday after the market close. Moore said there may be upside to AMD’s Q1 numbers given the strong GPU demand for Ethereum mining on the quarter, but cryptocurrency mining demand should decelerate quickly, putting future quarters at risk. Morgan Stanley has an Underweight rating and $8 price target.
• Aquantia Corp AQ reports Thursday after the market close. Moore said he expects an in-line quarter at worst, driven by a favorable enterprise spending environment. Morgan Stanley has an Overweight rating and $15 price target.
• Cypress Semiconductor Corporation CY reports Thursday after the market close. Moore said he expects upside to the March quarter earnings numbers, but June quarter expectations are sky-high and may be difficult to achieve. Morgan Stanley has an Underweight rating and $14.50 price target.
• Intel Corporation INTC reports Thursday after the market close. Moore said he expects modest near-term upside to consensus expectations, but increasing competition will make it harder for Intel to maintain the cash flow needed to justify its valuation. Morgan Stanley has an Equal Weight rating and $43 price target.
• Maxim Integrated Products Inc. MXIM reports Thursday after the close. Moore said he expects a modest miss from Maxim this quarter, but investors will likely focus on earnings call commentary related to lead times, inventory levels, capital returns and data center design traction. Morgan Stanley has an Equal Weight rating and $60 price target.
• Western Digital Corp WDC reports Thursday after the market close. Moore said he expects an in-line quarter with strength in enterprise hard disk drives offsetting weakness in NAND. Morgan Stanley has an Equal Weight rating and $92 price target.
• ON Semiconductor Corp ON reports Monday, April 30 before the market open. Moore said he expects a mixed quarter, including a modest revenue beat and a 1-cent earnings miss thanks to a combination of auto upside and smartphone weakness. Morgan Stanley has an Equal Weight rating and $20 price target.

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