ASE Technology (NYSE:ASX) Shares Gap Up - Here's Why

Key Points

• Shares gapped up about 8%, opening at $31.48 after a $29.81 close and last trading near $31.82 on heavy volume (~1.25M shares).
• Analyst activity likely helped the move: Zacks upgraded ASX to a Hold, Wall Street Zen to a Buy, Weiss reaffirmed Hold, and the MarketBeat consensus remains a "Hold" (1 Buy, 2 Hold).
• Most recent quarter: EPS of $0.21 beat estimates by $0.01 while revenue missed at $5.22B versus $5.47B expected; the company has a market cap of $71.6B and a P/E of 55.6.

ASE Technology Holding Co., Ltd. (NYSE:ASX - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $29.81, but opened at $31.48. ASE Technology shares last traded at $31.8210, with a volume of 1,245,015 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on ASX. Zacks Research raised ASE Technology from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen raised ASE Technology from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, April 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of ASE Technology in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

ASE Technology Stock Up 8.0%

The company has a market cap of $71.60 billion, a PE ratio of 55.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.46. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

ASE Technology (NYSE:ASX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. ASE Technology had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 6.31%. Equities research analysts anticipate that ASE Technology Holding Co., Ltd. will post 0.77 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASE Technology

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASX. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of ASE Technology in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of ASE Technology by 180,900.0% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,810 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,809 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ASE Technology by 1,704.8% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,653 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 2,506 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of ASE Technology in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. purchased a new position in shares of ASE Technology in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 6.80% of the company's stock.

ASE Technology Company Profile

ASE Technology Holding Co, Ltd. NYSE: ASX, commonly referred to as ASE, is a Taiwan-based provider of semiconductor assembly and testing services. The company focuses on back-end semiconductor manufacturing and related services that prepare integrated circuits and other semiconductor devices for final use. Its core activities include advanced IC packaging, final testing, wafer probing, and related engineering and supply-chain support for semiconductor customers.

ASE offers a range of products and technical capabilities designed to meet increasingly complex packaging and system-in-package requirements.

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