Wolfspeed (NYSE:WOLF) Stock Price Up 18.2% - Here's Why

Wolfspeed, Inc. (NYSE:WOLF - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 18.2% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $1.62 and last traded at $1.66. Approximately 10,786,585 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 28,609,479 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.40.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WOLF shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Wolfspeed from $15.00 to $8.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of Wolfspeed in a report on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $3.00 price target (down previously from $7.00) on shares of Wolfspeed in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Wolfspeed from $10.00 to $6.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $11.15.

Wolfspeed Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $232.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.19 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.26, a quick ratio of 2.47 and a current ratio of 3.15. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $2.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.32.

Wolfspeed (NYSE:WOLF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.72) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.82) by $0.10. The company had revenue of $185.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $190.03 million. Wolfspeed had a negative net margin of 125.96% and a negative return on equity of 70.84%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.62) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Wolfspeed, Inc. will post -4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Neill Reynolds sold 13,909 shares of Wolfspeed stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.99, for a total transaction of $55,496.91. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 195,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $779,075.43. The trade was a 6.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wolfspeed

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Wolfspeed by 18.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,913,793 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,876,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989,503 shares in the last quarter. Shah Capital Management acquired a new stake in Wolfspeed in the first quarter valued at $6,586,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its stake in Wolfspeed by 72.7% in the first quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 4,329,584 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,723,000 after acquiring an additional 1,822,958 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Wolfspeed in the first quarter valued at $4,402,000. Finally, Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Wolfspeed by 94.2% in the fourth quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 2,050,778 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,658,000 after purchasing an additional 995,020 shares during the period.

About Wolfspeed

Wolfspeed, Inc operates as a powerhouse semiconductor company focuses on silicon carbide and gallium nitride (GaN) technologies in Europe, Hong Kong, China, rest of Asia-Pacific, the United States, and internationally. It offers silicon carbide and GaN materials, including silicon carbide bare wafers, epitaxial wafers, and GaN epitaxial layers on silicon carbide wafers to manufacture products for RF, power, and other applications.