Amtech Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASYS) Short Interest Down 13.4% in March

Key Points

• Short interest down 13.4% — short interest fell to 284,641 shares as of March 31 (about 2.7% of shares outstanding) with a days-to-cover ratio of 1.5.
• Analysts' consensus is Reduce, with two firms at Hold and one at Sell after recent rating changes including a downgrade by Wall Street Zen and a hold upgrade from Zacks.
• Amtech missed its most recent quarter (EPS $0.03 vs. $0.07 expected; revenue $18.97M vs. $19.25M), has a negative net margin (-41.28%) and negative ROE, and a market cap of about $236 million.

Amtech Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASYS - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 284,641 shares, a decrease of 13.4% from the March 15th total of 328,529 shares. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 196,151 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ASYS shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Amtech Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Amtech Systems from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Amtech Systems in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amtech Systems currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce".

Amtech Systems Stock Performance

ASYS stock opened at $16.40 on Friday. Amtech Systems has a one year low of $3.20 and a one year high of $18.59. The company's fifty day moving average price is $12.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.41. The company has a market capitalization of $236.32 million, a PE ratio of -7.66 and a beta of 1.64.

Amtech Systems (NASDAQ:ASYS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.04). Amtech Systems had a negative return on equity of 1.53% and a negative net margin of 41.28%.The company had revenue of $18.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.25 million. On average, research analysts predict that Amtech Systems will post 0.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amtech Systems

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amtech Systems by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 133,001 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,670,000 after buying an additional 1,720 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amtech Systems by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 30,760 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 4,060 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amtech Systems in the fourth quarter worth $88,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Amtech Systems by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,790 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $788,000 after buying an additional 8,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amtech Systems by 90.4% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 22,748 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 10,802 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.21% of the company's stock.

About Amtech Systems

Amtech Systems, Inc is a global supplier of capital equipment and aftermarket parts for the solar photovoltaic and semiconductor industries. The company's solutions support key steps in wafer and cell production, offering both new machinery and spares designed to optimize yield, throughput and energy efficiency. Amtech operates through two primary segments: solar manufacturing and semiconductor & electronics packaging.

In its solar segment, Amtech provides diffusion furnaces, epitaxy reactors and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) systems used in high-volume solar cell fabrication.

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