Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Shares gapped up Tuesday, opening at $80 after a $73.11 close and trading around $82.32 on heavy volume, as several firms (TD Cowen, Oppenheimer, Craig Hallum, Needham) raised targets and ratings; consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $104.40.
• Ultra Clean reported Q1 EPS of $0.31 (vs. $0.27 expected) and revenue of $533.7M (vs. $525.3M expected), set Q2 guidance of $0.44–$0.60 EPS, and showed revenue growth of 2.9% year-over-year.
• The company has a $3.59B market cap, a negative trailing P/E of -18.61 but a PEG of 1.04, solid liquidity (quick ratio 1.72, current ratio 3.07), high institutional ownership (96.06%), and recent insider selling of 11,903 shares.

Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT - Get Free Report) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $73.11, but opened at $80.00. Ultra Clean shares last traded at $82.3230, with a volume of 261,519 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UCTT has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Ultra Clean from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Ultra Clean from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ultra Clean from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Craig Hallum reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Ultra Clean in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Ultra Clean from $70.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $104.40.

Ultra Clean Price Performance

The business's 50 day moving average is $65.86 and its 200-day moving average is $44.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.61, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 3.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $533.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $525.28 million. Ultra Clean had a negative net margin of 9.38% and a positive return on equity of 4.28%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. Ultra Clean has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.440-0.600 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ultra Clean

In other Ultra Clean news, insider Christopher S. Cook sold 11,903 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.31, for a total transaction of $896,414.93. Following the sale, the insider owned 108,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,201,635.55. The trade was a 9.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ultra Clean

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ultra Clean by 40.3% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 989 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ultra Clean by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,491 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in shares of Ultra Clean by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 25,093 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $635,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Ultra Clean by 3.4% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 13,312 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the period. Finally, Pitcairn Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Ultra Clean by 3.3% during the second quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 16,396 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.06% of the company's stock.

Ultra Clean Company Profile

Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc is a global supplier of critical consumables and process tools for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. The company specializes in precision parts cleaning, chemical–mechanical planarization (CMP) slurries, surface conditioning pads, and specialty components used in wafer fabrication and advanced packaging. Ultra Clean also provides assembly and test hardware, tooling, and automated modules designed to support complex front-end and back-end processes in semiconductor fabs.

Ultra Clean's product portfolio encompasses a range of cleaning systems and consumables aimed at particle and film removal, as well as CMP slurries and pads that are engineered for uniform material removal and planarization.

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