Zacks Research Upgrades Amtech Systems (NASDAQ:ASYS) to Hold

Amtech Systems (NASDAQ:ASYS) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

ASYS has been the topic of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Amtech Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Amtech Systems in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amtech Systems has an average rating of “Reduce”.

Amtech Systems Trading Up 7.2%

Shares of ASYS stock opened at $13.03 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $187.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.09 and a beta of 1.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $12.75 and a 200-day moving average of $11.16. Amtech Systems has a 1-year low of $3.20 and a 1-year high of $18.59.

Amtech Systems (NASDAQ:ASYS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.04). Amtech Systems had a negative net margin of 41.28% and a negative return on equity of 1.53%. The company had revenue of $18.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.25 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Amtech Systems will post 0.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASYS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Amtech Systems by 135.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 30,066 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 17,297 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amtech Systems by 90.8% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 42,584 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $204,000 after purchasing an additional 20,264 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Amtech Systems in the second quarter valued at approximately $105,000. GWN Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amtech Systems in the third quarter valued at approximately $189,000. Finally, James Investment Research Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amtech Systems in the third quarter valued at approximately $135,000. Institutional investors own 50.21% of the company’s stock.

Amtech Systems Company Profile

Amtech Systems, Inc is a global supplier of capital equipment and aftermarket parts for the solar photovoltaic and semiconductor industries. The company’s solutions support key steps in wafer and cell production, offering both new machinery and spares designed to optimize yield, throughput and energy efficiency. Amtech operates through two primary segments: solar manufacturing and semiconductor & electronics packaging.

In its solar segment, Amtech provides diffusion furnaces, epitaxy reactors and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) systems used in high-volume solar cell fabrication.