Altera Corp. Stock Buy Recommendation Reiterated (ALTR)

Editor's Note: TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Altera (Nasdaq:ALTR) has been reiterated by TheStreet Ratings as a buy with a ratings score of B . The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, expanding profit margins, good cash flow from operations and notable return on equity. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had somewhat weak growth in earnings per share.

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Highlights from the ratings report include:

• ALTR's debt-to-equity ratio is very low at 0.15 and is currently below that of the industry average, implying that there has been very successful management of debt levels. Along with this, the company maintains a quick ratio of 5.52, which clearly demonstrates the ability to cover short-term cash needs.
• The gross profit margin for ALTERA CORP is currently very high, coming in at 71.30%. It has increased from the same quarter the previous year. Along with this, the net profit margin of 31.81% is above that of the industry average.
• Net operating cash flow has remained constant at $285.20 million with no significant change when compared to the same quarter last year. Along with maintaining stable cash flow from operations, the firm exceeded the industry average cash flow growth rate of -26.91%.
• ALTR, with its decline in revenue, slightly underperformed the industry average of 3.4%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly dropped by 5.3%. The declining revenue appears to have seeped down to the company's bottom line, decreasing earnings per share.
• Return on equity has greatly decreased when compared to its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a signal of major weakness within the corporation. Compared to other companies in the Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment industry and the overall market, ALTERA CORP's return on equity exceeds that of both the industry average and the S&P 500.

Altera Corporation, a semiconductor company, designs, manufactures, and markets programmable logic devices (PLD), HardCopy application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) devices, pre-defined design building blocks, and associated development tools. Altera has a market cap of $10.32 billion and is part of the technology sector and electronics industry. The company has a P/E ratio of 18, above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are down 13.3% year to date as of the close of trading on Wednesday.

You can view the full Altera Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.

--Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff.

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For more information on Altera Corp. click any of the following:

• Altera Corp. Stock Price

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• Altera Corp. Earnings

• Altera Corp. Ratio Comparison

• Altera Corp. Growth Rates

• Altera Corp. Balance Sheet

• Altera Corp. Cash Flow

• Altera Corp. Income Statement