Tower Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TSEM) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Tower Semiconductor shares jumped, opening at $215.02 versus a prior close of $202.20, though they later traded near $212.74.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with one Strong Buy, six Buy, and two Hold ratings. The stock has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $290.67.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of $0.88 per share, beating estimates of $0.76, while revenue rose 23.7% year over year to $460.08 million. However, insiders sold $45.6 million of stock in the last quarter, while institutional investors own 70.51% of shares.

Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ:TSEM - Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $202.20, but opened at $215.02. Tower Semiconductor shares last traded at $212.7350, with a volume of 415,438 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TSEM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Tower Semiconductor in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Bank of America began coverage on Tower Semiconductor in a research note on Friday, August 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $367.00 price objective for the company. National Bank Financial raised Tower Semiconductor to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Tower Semiconductor in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $270.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Tower Semiconductor from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $290.67.

Tower Semiconductor Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $24.17 billion, a PE ratio of 84.43 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 4.31, a current ratio of 4.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $226.48 and a 200-day moving average of $219.39.

Tower Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TSEM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.12. Tower Semiconductor had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 9.83%. The firm had revenue of $460.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $454.68 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Tower Semiconductor Ltd. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Tower Semiconductor

In related news, Director Yoav Chelouche sold 232 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.06, for a total value of $49,893.92. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 33,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,254,834.04. This trade represents a 0.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell Ellwanger sold 104,226 shares of Tower Semiconductor stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.34, for a total value of $25,883,484.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 526,788 shares in the company, valued at $130,822,531.92. This trade represents a 16.52% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 181,767 shares of company stock worth $45,610,065. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tower Semiconductor

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TSEM. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Tower Semiconductor by 214.7% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,206,467 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $259,083,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505,421 shares during the period. Capital International Investors acquired a new position in Tower Semiconductor in the fourth quarter valued at $222,530,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Tower Semiconductor by 0.6% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,081,175 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $189,723,000 after buying an additional 6,458 shares during the last quarter. Turiya Advisors Asia Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Tower Semiconductor in the fourth quarter valued at about $172,848,000. Finally, E20 Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Tower Semiconductor during the first quarter worth about $107,708,000. 70.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tower Semiconductor Company Profile

Tower Semiconductor Ltd. NASDAQ: TSEM is a specialty semiconductor foundry that manufactures integrated circuits for fabless chip companies, integrated device manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers. The company focuses on analog and mixed-signal technologies rather than high-volume digital logic, providing process development, wafer manufacturing, design enablement and other foundry services.

Its technology portfolio includes radio-frequency and high-performance analog circuits, power management, CMOS image sensors, medical and industrial sensors, silicon photonics, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and automotive and industrial semiconductor solutions.

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