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

Key Points

• Ultra Clean shares gapped up before trading, opening at $119.12 after closing at $111.61 and later trading around $122.55, a move of about 9.4%.
• Analysts remain broadly positive: the stock has an average Buy rating with a $107.40 price target, though opinions are mixed after one recent downgrade to Hold.
• The company beat its latest earnings estimates, reporting $0.31 EPS versus $0.27 expected and revenue of $533.7 million, while also giving Q2 guidance of $0.44 to $0.60 EPS.

Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT - Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $111.61, but opened at $119.12. Ultra Clean shares last traded at $122.5540, with a volume of 156,779 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on UCTT. Craig Hallum reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Ultra Clean in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Ultra Clean from $70.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Ultra Clean from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th. Zacks Research upgraded Ultra Clean from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 25th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Ultra Clean from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $107.40.

Ultra Clean Trading Up 9.4%

The company has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a PE ratio of -28.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 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. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.83.

Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $533.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $525.28 million. Ultra Clean had a positive return on equity of 4.28% and a negative net margin of 9.38%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. Ultra Clean has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.440-0.600 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Christopher S. Cook sold 11,903 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.31, for a total value of $896,414.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 108,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,201,635.55. This trade represents a 9.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffrey L. Mckibben sold 4,205 shares of Ultra Clean stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.00, for a total transaction of $365,835.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 11,349 shares of the company's stock, valued at $987,363. This trade represents a 27.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 80,106 shares of company stock worth $6,734,589 over the last 90 days. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ultra Clean

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ultra Clean by 63.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,399,834 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $86,118,000 after acquiring an additional 1,315,407 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ultra Clean in the first quarter valued at $36,486,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ultra Clean by 944.8% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 559,955 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $14,184,000 after purchasing an additional 506,363 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Ultra Clean by 348.7% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 565,569 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $35,167,000 after purchasing an additional 439,526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Ultra Clean by 502.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 454,020 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $28,231,000 after purchasing an additional 378,648 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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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