AMAT Applied Materials tgt upped to $18 at BofA (17.31 )
Banc of America notes that AMAT reports earnings on 11/15, and raises their AMAT tgt to $18 from $16. The firm raises their Q4 EPS est to $0.33 from $0.32 vs $0.31 consensus, due to likely stronger revenues at upper end of guidance. The firm lowers their Q1 est to $0.31 from $0.34 vs $0.29 (follow-through from weaker recent orders), but raises FY07 est (Oct) to $1.31 from $1.07 vs $1.14 consensus due to latter-'07 snap-back in orders, and share repurchase. They expect Jan Q orders to be down 5-10%; weakness coming from semi equipment (down ~15-20% QoQ) offset in part due to seasonally strong period for services (AGS). They think weaker near term revenue offset by share buy back and a snap back in 3QFY07 (July) revenues.
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