BE Semiconductor Stock Rises 5% on Berenberg Upgrade

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

BE Semiconductor Industries, the Dutch maker of chip assembly and advanced packaging equipment, rose 5.11% in Amsterdam after Berenberg upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral. The price target stayed at 240, roughly 13% above where the shares trade and well short of the 296 average across the 23 analysts covering the company.

Besi reported second-quarter revenue of 249.9 million, up 69% from a year earlier, with orders up 129% to 292.9 million and net profit of 89 million. Gross margin reached 65.7%. The stock has also been under pressure after reports that a Chinese company had begun producing domestic DUV chipmaking tools. Peers including ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) fell on the same story.

Besi supplies equipment for advanced packaging, including hybrid bonding, which stacks chips more densely for AI and high-bandwidth memory. China accounts for 39% of net sales and the United States less than 10%. The stock is up about 55% this year.