Microsemi Shares Up After Analyst Upgrade

The Associated Press

Shares of chip maker Microsemi Corp. rose Monday after an analyst upgraded the stock on signs that business is tracking better than expected.

Thomas Weisel analyst Tore Svanberg raised his recommendation to "Overweight" from "Market Weight" and boosted his price target to $17 from $15.

He said demand is trending above the $109.7 million revenue forecast Microsemi gave in the middle of the September quarter, driven by strength in its high-performance analog integrated circuits business due to the popularity of LCD TVs and as the power-over-Ethernet market rebounds.

Svanberg also noted that Microsemi settled an antitrust lawsuit with the U.S. Justice Department, which alleviates any potential investor concern about the stock on those grounds.

Last week, the Irvine, Calif.-based company said it has sold Semicoa Inc. to settle the lawsuit. The Justice Department said the acquisition of Semicoa would have concentrated in one company the manufacturing of semiconductor devices used in military and space programs.

Semicoa makes chips for the military, commercial airspace and satellite markets. Microsemi bought the company in July 2008.