UPDATE: J.P. Morgan Raising Price Target On Molex (MOLX)

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is raising its price target on shares of Molex MOLX to $34 from $32, and it has an Overweight rating after the company reported earnings. In a note to investors, J.P. Morgan writes, "FQ3 results were mostly in-line excluding the impact from Japan disruptions. FQ4 guidance is substantially better than our recently revised down estimates due to a far more moderate headwind from Japan than we anticipated despite Molex's sizeable 18% revenue exposure. We recognize Molex has taking two steps away from its 14% operating margin target over the last two quarters due to higher raw materials costs and normal seasonality. However, we continue to see compelling leverage on the horizon due to its attractive exposure to the faster growing connector markets such as mobile devices and mobile networking equipment (24% of revenue), data networking, especially tablets, storage and servers (23%) and automotive (17%) combined with a substantially above-corporate average margin on incremental sales. We forecast above-peer revenue and earnings growth and hence do not believe MOLX deserves a discount valuation. Reiterate OW." Shares of MOLX gained 15 cents yesterday to close at $26.63, a gain of 0.57%.