UPDATE: Stifel Nicolaus Raises PT to $38, Maintains Buy on Linear Technology

Stifel Nicolaus maintains its Buy rating on Linear Technology LLTC and raises its price target to $38 from $34 on earlier-than-expected bookings improvement anticipated in company's earnings conference call. Stifel Nicolaus says, "Revenue of $294.3mn modestly beat our $293.6mn estimate as well as the Street's $293.1mn consensus estimate in a challenging quarter. Gross margin was 74.9% (down 90bps q-q) and operating margin was 45.2% (down 255bps q-q). As a result, GAAP ex-14-1 EPS of $0.39 met our and the Street's consensus estimate of $0.39. F3Q12 (Mar) outlook is for revenue to be in the range of up 4%-8% q/q ($306mn-$318mn) and operating margin roughly 45% (flat to last quarter's 45.2%)." LLTC closed at $33.32 per share on Wednesday.