Tower Semiconductor Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:TSEM)

Key Points

• Investors purchased 9,694 call options on Tower Semiconductor on Thursday, about a 199% increase versus the typical volume of 3,245 calls, signaling unusually large options activity.
• Shares jumped 10.3% to $156.65 on heavy trading (3.76M shares vs. a 2.15M average), pushing the stock near its 1‑year high.
• TSEM beat quarterly estimates with $0.78 EPS (vs. $0.67 expected) and $440.21M revenue (up 13.7% YoY), prompting several price‑target upgrades although the consensus rating remains Hold with an average target of $156.75.

Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ:TSEM - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 9,694 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 199% compared to the typical volume of 3,245 call options.

Tower Semiconductor Stock Up 10.3%

TSEM traded up $14.69 during trading on Thursday, hitting $156.65. The company had a trading volume of 3,761,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,147,828. The business has a 50-day moving average of $128.44 and a 200-day moving average of $104.01. Tower Semiconductor has a 1-year low of $28.64 and a 1-year high of $159.48. The company has a market cap of $17.61 billion, a PE ratio of 81.88 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 6.48 and a quick ratio of 5.51.

Tower Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TSEM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The semiconductor company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.11. Tower Semiconductor had a return on equity of 7.86% and a net margin of 14.08%.The business had revenue of $440.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $439.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Tower Semiconductor will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Tower Semiconductor from $114.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Tower Semiconductor in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Tower Semiconductor in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of Tower Semiconductor from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on Tower Semiconductor from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $156.75.

Institutional Trading of Tower Semiconductor

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TSEM. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in shares of Tower Semiconductor during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Tower Semiconductor by 254.2% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Tower Semiconductor by 100.0% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 452 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Tower Semiconductor in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd purchased a new position in Tower Semiconductor during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $52,000. Institutional investors own 70.51% of the company's stock.

About Tower Semiconductor

Tower Semiconductor, traded on NASDAQ under the symbol TSEM, is a specialty foundry company that provides analog and mixed-signal semiconductor manufacturing services to a broad array of customers worldwide. The company focuses on delivering tailored process technologies for high-growth markets, including radio frequency (RF), power management, imaging, automotive electronics, and Internet of Things (IoT) applications. By combining deep process know-how with flexible manufacturing capabilities, Tower Semiconductor supports the development and volume production of advanced semiconductor devices for fabless and integrated device manufacturer customers.

The company's technology portfolio spans standard and specialty processes such as CMOS, BiCMOS, high-voltage, radio frequency, silicon photonics, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and image sensor production.

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