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 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 6.15, 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 72.00%. It has increased from the same quarter the previous year. Along with this, the net profit margin of 27.49% is above that of the industry average.
• Regardless of the drop in revenue, the company managed to outperform against the industry average of 11.4%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly dropped by 4.0%. The declining revenue appears to have seeped down to the company's bottom line, decreasing earnings per share.
• Current return on equity is lower than its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a clear sign of weakness within the company. 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.
• The change in net income from the same quarter one year ago has exceeded that of the Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment industry average, but is less than that of the S&P 500. The net income has decreased by 17.6% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, dropping from $146.61 million to $120.81 million.

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 $11.14 billion and is part of the technology sector and electronics industry. The company has a P/E ratio of 20.3, above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are up 1.3% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday.

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