JDS Uniphase (JDSU)

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JDS Spikes After 2Q Beats Wall Street

Wednesday February 6, 1:22 pm ET

JDS Uniphase Shares Spike After Co. Beats Analysts' 2nd-Qtr Estimates, Receives 2 Upgrades

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of JDS Uniphase Corp. soared Wednesday after the communications test and fiber-optic network equipment maker reported fiscal second-quarter profit and third-quarter guidance above the expectations of analyst, leading at least two to upgrade the stock.

The company's stock rose $2.90, or 28.5 percent, to $13.06 in afternoon trading. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $9.49 to $17.15.

BMO Capital Markets analyst Paras Bhargava upgraded the company to "Outperform" from "Market Perform" and said the company's margins may continue to improve and its optical unit may likely grow.

The second-quarter results were "good and clean" and did not contain many one-time benefits, he said. Furthermore, Bhargava praised Chief Executive Kevin Kennedy's work the past four years to "systemically" fix the company.

"We believe that JDS is now a much better positioned company in an industry that has at least a couple of years of strong tailwinds," he wrote in a client note.

Raymond James analyst Todd Koffman upgraded JDS to "Strong Buy" from "Underperform" and set a $15 price target.

"After many years of red ink, JDS Uniphase has finally turned respectably profitable," Koffman said in a note to clients.

Benefits from margin expansion and in the company's optical unit helped fuel the growth, he said

Roth Capital Partners analyst Dave Kang raised his price target to $18 from $17.30.

"Considering most of its peers have reported disappointing results and/or guidance, we were amazed with JDS's fiscal second-quarter results and fiscal third-quarter guidance," Kang wrote in a client note.

The worry now, he said, is just how long JDS can maintain the growth in the sagging economy. If the country enters a "full-blown recession," Kang said his already conservative estimates could be too aggressive.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080206/jds_uniphase_mover.html?.v=1