ASM International NV ADR Stock Upgraded (ASMI)

NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- ASM International NV ADR (Nasdaq: ASMI) has been upgraded by TheStreet Ratings from hold to buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, reasonable valuation levels, expanding profit margins and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income.

• ACTIVE STOCK TRADERS: Check out TheStreet's special offer for Real Money, headlined by Jim Cramer, now!

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• Compared to its closing price of one year ago, ASMI's share price has jumped by 27.33%, exceeding the performance of the broader market during that same time frame. Regarding the stock's future course, although almost any stock can fall in a broad market decline, ASMI should continue to move higher despite the fact that it has already enjoyed a very nice gain in the past year.
• 38.30% is the gross profit margin for ASM INTERNATIONAL NV which we consider to be strong. Regardless of ASMI's high profit margin, it has managed to decrease from the same period last year. Despite the mixed results of the gross profit margin, ASMI's net profit margin of 4.80% is significantly lower than the same period one year prior.
• The revenue fell significantly faster than the industry average of 13.7%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues fell by 34.9%. Weakness in the company's revenue seems to have hurt the bottom line, decreasing earnings per share.
• Despite currently having a low debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, it is higher than that of the industry average, inferring that management of debt levels may need to be evaluated further. Regardless of the somewhat mixed results with the debt-to-equity ratio, the company's quick ratio of 1.32 is sturdy.

ASM International N.V., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, manufacture, marketing, and servicing of equipment and materials that are primarily used to produce semiconductor devices. The company operates in two segments, Front-end and Back-end. The company has a P/E ratio of 12.1, above the average electronics industry P/E ratio of 11.2 and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. ASM International NV ADR has a market cap of $2.12 billion and is part of the technology sector and electronics industry. Shares are up 34% year to date as of the close of trading on Monday.

You can view the full ASM International NV ADR Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.

-- Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff

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.